Letting Love Find A Way
by ThrashMetalQueen
Summary: HIATUS;; Courtney Laughlin is the sister of Tommy Dreamer and best friends with Valerie Levesque. She's worked to be a wrestler for many years in different places and now finally gets a chance to be in WWE. What will come her way? HBKOC
1. Courtney Alexis Laughlin

**Letting Love Find A Way**

_By: Vixen Xtreme_

**Disclaimer: I only own Courtney Alexis Laughlin. Valerie Lynn Levesque belongs to wandathetiger. Any other OC belongs to their rightful owner.**

**Pairings: Shawn/OC, London/OC, Hunter/Stephanie, Tommy/Beulah, Morrison/Melina, Punk/Maria and more.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Courtney Alexis Laughlin**

It was time to end it, and they both agreed on it. He, for one, deep down didn't want to. But she needed her freedom.

The Arizona man signed his name down on the dotted line. After he was done, the lawyer picker up the sheets of paper and scanned down over them. He fixed his glasses onto his nose and prepared to check for any missing blanks.

"Okay, let's see, I think we having everything all set." the elder, bald man stated. His dark eyes fixed upon Rebecca. "Rebecca is it...?"

The young woman nodded her head. "Yes."

"Are you and Shawn positive about this divorce?" the lawyer checked.

"Yes sir, we've agreed this is the way we wanna handle it." Rebecca confirmed it. "He'll still be able to see and visit the kids. It's just our marriage isn't working out and we want to make it easier on the both of us."

The lawyer looked over at Shawn. "Is this true?"

Shawn swallowed his pride. "Yes it is. And she'll be able to own the house and everything in it except all of my belongings."

"Alright then, I'll have it finalized and the rest will be in the both of your hands." he told them.

Shawn and Rebecca both stood up. He shook the lawyer's hand first.

"Thank you." he said, before walking out the door. The brunette female did the same and followed along with him. Shawn waited out in the hallway before she left.

The door closed to the office. The brunette turned toward to her soon-to-be ex-husband. He had her back to her.

"I'm sorry Shawn." Rebecca apologized.

The dirty blonde nodded his head in response. "Yeah ... me too."

She said nothing after that. She just continued on her way leaving the building. Her heels echoing down the halls as she walked off.

Even thought they agreed the divorce would be friendly and compermising, it didn't seem nothing of the sort.

* * *

"Val's go a hickey! Val's got a hickey! Ha, ha-ha, ha, ha, ha!" Courtney chanted as she chased her friend around the parking lot. 

"Nooo! Leave me and my sexual imprint aloooone!" Valerie whined.

Tommy, Courtney's brother, caught her by the hair.

She squeaked slightly and swatted at him. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Let go! Release!"

Tommy did so and turned her so that she would look and face him.

"Courtney, please for the love of Mike, stop acting like your SIX." he demanded, becoming very irritated.

The younger sibling held up her hadns in defense. "Hey! I'm just really excited. I finally get to wrestle for the company. I mean I've been in OVW for just about forever and now all my hard work is paying off. I remember the first time _you _were hired for ECW. Eh? And also, I can't help it if Valerie's finally getting firsky with ol' Pauly. Tee hee."

"Leave her alone, and back then was different." Tommy stated, trying to cover his own hide.

Brown eyes rolled. Courtney gave him the look she always did when he was acting like a baffoon.

"Would'ja quit being gay for one moment in your life Thomas?" she told him as she walked in the back doors of the Boston arena.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?!" the brother complained.

Courtney just cackled as she strolled down the halls. Tommy followed with Valerie coming in behind.

Courtney Laughlin might of had the spirit of a young child, but her heart was definitely filled with passion. Passion for wrestling, just like Tommy. She took a lot after him. He taught her everything he knew. But that wasn't enough, she had to go through more schooling. Courtney headed to UPW and OVW for many years. Finally she had a contract offer. But it wasn't one of WWE, it was one from Jeff Jerrett and the company of TNA iMPACT. She only smiled politely and declinded. Courtney apologized to the man. She meant no insult, but she didn't want to wrestle for him; no matter how high the salary might of been. Her place was at World Wrestling Entertainment and that business alone. Courtney didn't need the money, she had it. But she desired to wrestle under Vince. She didn't know why, but that's what she felt. Tommy did tell her no matter where she wrestled, he didn't mind. Though she steill declined.

The slender blacknette brushed shoulders with a larger figure. She turned her head to spot who she passed.

"Oh, it's you." she said with a smile. "Hola Hunter!"

"Hola." he replied. He was dressed in his white _'Kings of Kings' _t-shirt, loose blue jeans with black sneakers on his feet. In his left hand was his infamou water bottle. "Seen the goof ball around?"

He was referring to Valerie, who was also the younger sister of one of WWE's finest. Courtney turned around, expecting the Tommy and Hunter's sister would be coming up to her. But no one was there.

She shrugged. "Well, they _were _following me. Knowing Fatty, he probably presuaded Valerie to head to the catering area. Why, is it important?"

"Ah." Hunter said nodding to the first sentence Courtney said. He shook his head to the question she asked. "Not really. I was just wondering. But I'm going to beat her boyfriend's ass if I find out she has another hickey on her."

Courtney immediatly sputtered out giggles. She quickly covered her mouth to stifle them. "Ohh! You found out eh?"

The bigger figure nodded. "Yeah, but only this time I threatened him to stay away. Next time I'll kick the shit out of him like a red-headed step child. But anyways, I gotta go. I'm meeting up with Vince to go over some things."

She saluted him off. "Later big man and good luck with that!"

"Yep, thanks!" he replied as he walked off.

Courtney headed off on her own as well. She already knew being in WWE was going to be a blast.

* * *

**A/N: Oh yes, I have a lot of plans for this story. A lot. You're in for a good one. Anywho, review and tell me your thoughts.**


	2. Bump In

**Chapter Two: Bump In**

**A/N: Any Pirates fans out there? (As in the movie.) Do any of the POTC fans agree with me that Lord Cutler Beckett is hot? Anyone?**

**Hm. Guess it's a party of one here. Ahh well. Hah.**

**Review.**

**And push the fave button.**

**Oh and wandathetiger will be helping me on this story. She's the co-writer. Hoo-rah.**

* * *

Courtney finished up putting on her combat attire. She was getting ready to make her debut on RAW. The female stretched all parts of her body real quick before she headed out. She wanted to make sure that everything was absolutely perfect. There was only one chance she would get to make a first impression, and she was going to design it great at all costs.

Courtney then felt a sharp, disturbing feeling in the pit of her stomach. She recoiled up as a reaction. She looked down at herself and poked the skin of her belly. It rumbled again.

_'Damn, I'm hungry as hell...' _she thought. _'Better make a stop at the catering area. Ooh, a couple of begals, cream cheese and some coffee would go wonderful right now. And if Tommy's there, I can steal his food too! Hee hee!'_

The blacknette snickered as she planned it all out together. Rubbing her palms together like an evil master mind, she quickly left so her plans could work. But Courtney didn't even come remotely close as soon as she found herself knocking into another individual. One that was holding multiple sheets of paper that scattered everywhere.

"Oh shit." she said. "I am so sorry."

She beant down to retrieve the paper and found out that it was scripts.

"No, it's fine." said the other person. "I shoulda been watchin' where I was going."

"But it was--" Coutney looked up at the figure. She smiled as she saw the face. "Hey Shawn."

"How's it goin'?" he greeted her back, casually.

"Alright." she nodded. "But again, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to knock into you."

She apologized for the second time, trying to be humble and take the blame. She chuckled awkwardly as she handed him the papers she managed to gather together.

"It's fine Court', seriously." the dirty blonde insisted, chuckling back.

Courtney realized something was wrong. She blinked and sent a concerned look his way. Reading his body language, she picked up a strong, negative message. She knew it wasn't toward her, but more like something was troubling himself. Just by the tone of his voice, she knew he was in a sensitive mood. Courtney was careful with her words. She didn't want to hit the wrong nerve and send him off the handle. Or that's what she thought.

"Is there something the matter?" she asked him.

Shawn sighed quietly to himself. "Well, I just recently filed for divorce if you must know. But no offense, but I rather not talk about it."

_'Ouch...' _she thought. Courtney knew how long he and Rebecca had been together. She knew about his family and everything. She knew how he felt. Her eyes looked up at him with sympathy and pity. She simply mouthed an 'Oh' since she didn't know exactly what to say.

He nodded. "Yeah. Not fun..."

Courtney looked back at him as he strolled down the hallways. She wanted to help, but she knew she couldn't.

"I... well hope everything else goes smoothly for you..." she wished for him.

"Thanks." he mumbled, trying to give his best smile as he walked away.

* * *

"...And then he just thanked me and walked away." Courtney finished up her story, explaining to Valerie and her boyfriend Paul London what happened.

"Yikes, that's gotta suck..." said Valerie. "I wonder if Hunter knows."

"Probably." Courtney said. "They _are _just about best friends."

Valerie nodded. "True, very true."

"I hope he'll be alright. I really feel bad for the guy." Paul said worried. "The way you desrived what happened, be seemed bummed out."

"Well yeah, I do too." Courtney agreed, taking a small sip of her French Vanilla. "Where's my brother by the way? Shouldn't he be here for this RAW?"

For a good amount of time, WWE had been doing a talent exchange with multiple Superstars and Divas. They did this mostly for ECW and it's sinking ratings. The writers weren't sure how to fix it. A lot of the fans honestly wanted the old ECW back. But then again, there were ones who just hoped for more wrestlers for the roster. Those fans really didn't care for old ECW, or didn't remember anything that happened back ten years ago.

"Yeah, I think he's already out there." Paul informed her. "Last time I checked he was commertaring with JR and King."

"Ah, I see. Alright." the younger Laughlin understoof. She stood up and picked up her empty paper plate that had crumbs of her food on it and a crinkled up napkin. "I better get ready. I do have my debut coming soon after commercial."

"Okay then, see you afterwards." Valerie said.

"See you Courtney." Paul added.

"Buy guys." she said giving them a small wave before dumping her disposals in the trash can.

* * *

**A/N: To make it less confusing, I made it so Triple H is being called Hunter in this story. As you can see. **

**I don't like calling him Paul anyways, I always end up thinking London. Trip' doesn't look like a Paul anyways. He looks like a Hunter.**

**Review and love me. **


	3. Gifts For All

**Chapter Three: Gifts For All**

**A/N: Did anyone notice that Shawn kinda looks like a grizzly bear when he doesn't shave? Hah. I don't know. That was just a random thought. **

**And just to let you know, Courtney's about thirty-four years old. Only two years younger than Tommy and eight years younger than Shawn.**

**Whoa wait... Ah, oh well. Age doesn't matter when you're in love. My original plan was to make her thirty nine and wandathetiger suggested she be related to Tommy. We thought a niece would be funny. But then the age thing came in the middle of those plans. So we both switched it being to being his sister.**

**Reviewness please.**

* * *

After a hard night's work, Courtney fell asleep that evening and got the next day off. She rested through the morning and wanted to do nothing more. Her body was aching and worn out. It wasn't too bad, and she knew she'd be better in a couple of days; but she just wanted to rest. 

Tommy and Valerie opened up the door a-jar, quietly. The two peakced inside to see if Courtney was still awake.

"She's still sleeping, come on." he whispered.

"Okay." she replied, just as quietly.

Following them was Hunter and Paul sneaking in as well. The crowded the bed then suddenly took out the noise makers and started cheering. Valerie hopped and tackled Courtney while she was still sleeping.

But the younger Laughlin immediatly woke up when she felt the body weight jump on her. "Ahh...what the hell?"

"Way to go, you're debut was totalyl kick ass!!" Valerie cheered.

"Thanks, haha." Courtney chuckled tiredly, but happy.

"We got-chya some gifts." Tommy mentioned.

Courtney sat up on her butt as she woke up. "Oh really now?"

"Yeah." he said. He faced Valerie. "You wanna go first?"

She declined, letting him start. "No, it's cool. Go ahead."

"Alright." he said. He gave his sister a small velvet box.

Courtney lit up. She had a guess at what it was. She took it from him and opened it up. When it was revealed, she immediatly dropped it into her lap out of shock. She covered up her mouth to stifle her excitement as she squealed. It wa an emerald heart linked on a gold chain. It was absolutely gorgeous. She couldn't believe that her brother actually bought it fr her. Courtney took it out of the box and examined it a little closer.

Brown eyes quickl fixed on Tommy. "Aw, this is so beautiful. Thank you Tommy!"

She extended her arms open to hug him. He accepted, embracing her joyfully.

"No problem sis, you definitely deserve it." he said. After he hugged her, he looked to the other individuals. "Who's next?"

"I will!" Valerie volunteered eagarly. She handed her present to her best friend. Courtney began unwrapping it and saw that inside it was a portable DVD player.

Brown eyes bugged. "Holy shit Val... You didn't need to go _this _far!"

Valerie waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Like Tommy said, you deserve it."

Courtney put her hands on her cheeks in a girly fashion. "I feel so spoiled!"

"Not 'till you see mine." Hunter said, handing his gift to her.

"Ah, let's see what this is." she said. "I have a feeling it's probably something perverted, ain't it?"

Hunter put an innocent face on. "May be... may be not."

She rolled her eyes and laughed at his infamous smug attitude. Courtney ripped away at the colorful wrapping paper, seeing what was underneath it.

It was a small, white cardboard case. Courtney took the lid off and peaked inside. It was a small collection of clothing. The t-shirt was Hunter's newest logo-made shirt along. Along with that, there was a pair of plain blue jean. Then with it, was a pair of DX bra and panties.

Courtney held the two undergarments up. "Now this is the time you explain to me what's the deal with this. I am utterly cofused here. Haha."

"Hey, just think about it like this; you'll have a part of me everywhere you go." Hunter pointed out. That million-dollar-smile lied flat on his face. She thought he was such a lovable oaf.

Courtney showed a girly smile. "Awe, thank you so much Hunter!"

"I'm next." Paul said, handing me his present.

It wasn't even wrapped or anything, it was just a cute teddy bear with golden fur. A dark, purple ribbon was laced around his neck. Tucked under the ribbon was a single white rose. She loved it. She thought it was adorable like there was no tomorrow. Paul also handed her a pair of converse as well.

"Aw Paul, I love it! Thank you!! And haha, love the shoes. Thanks." she thanked him. Along with the rest of them, she hugged him too. "You all are so great, I really appreciate this."

"No prob hun." Tommy said. "Hey, you coming out with us tomarrow. We're going out to a couple parties."

Courtney nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll be there. Just give me a ring when you guys are all goin' out."

Everyone headed out of her room.

Tommy gave a wave. "Alright I will. Later sis."

"Later. Love ya." she responded.

* * *

Courtney headed down the halls of the Allstate Arena. She had a match coming up against Melina. She decided to go to the lounge real quick and grab a cup of coffee. 

Going inside, she found herself to be accompained by two other people; Mickie James and Maria Kanellis.

"Hey girls." Courtney greeted them.

"Hi Courtney." Maria replied.

"Hey chic." Mickie followed.

Courtney picked up one of the foam cups and put a couple of the sugar packets in it. Then, she took a hold of the coffee and pured some of the hot liquid into the cup.

"What are you two up to?" she asked them.

"We just got back from a match." Maria answered her. "We're grabbing a few refreshments. I'll be leaving in a couple minutes though. I'm heading ujp to Richmond to visit Phil before they tape ECW."

Courtney's facial expression turned flirtatous and naughty. "Ohhh, going to visit the boy-toy eh?"

Maria rolled her eyes jokingly. "Yeah well, my _boy-toy's _been my boyfriend for eight years."

"I know, I'm only joking." Courtney laughed some. "But you guys aren't married yet?"

She shrugged slightly, shaking her head. "Nope. We just figured that it still not that right time. The both of us aren't exactly ready."

The Laughlin understood. "I see. You don't want to put your careers in jepordy. (She looked at Mickie) What's up with you girly?"

"Going to do the same thing, only Randy and I are going to be spending the night at a hotel." she explained.

The raven-haired woman nodded. "Ahh, I see."

As the three girls got caught up in their conversations, a figured came into the background. It caught Courtney's eye. She noticed it was Shawn and he was in his ring attire. He had his cowboy hat over his head and he looked slightly upset. Fiddling with some keys, he shook his head. Courtney didn't know what was happening, but she figured he was probably a wreck without his wife. She felt really bad for him and wish there was something that she could do. Then she immediatly got an idea. She knew what she could do after all.

* * *

**-Shawn's POV-**

Entering in a Marriott hotel, I checked in the counter and received a room for myself. With my room key, I took it along with my suitcase rolling behind me down the halls. Reaching the correct door, I noticed that by the door was a box, colorfully wrapped in paper and a stick-on bow on top.

It must have been for someone else. But when I checked the tag, I saw it was for me. Though it didn't say who it was from. I bet it was Hunter or Steph...

I lifted it up in one hand, and unlocked the door with the other. I tossed the key onto the night stand and placed the box on the bed. I hauled my gigantic suitcase onto it as well, zipping it open and unpacking a few things. Then I decided to see who had bought me this present.

It wasn't my birthday, and it wasn't Christmas. So why'd of all people, did_ I_ get a gift? It was probably a prank. If it was, I knew whose ass was going to be mine as soon as I found out. Haha.

Tearing away at the colorful paper, I opened up the gift. I looked inside and saw a couple of items. There was a box of chocolate, a note folded up, a little teddy bear with a broken heart on it's stomach, a couple of DVDs and a few flowers. I was seriously confused now, this had to be mixed up with someone else or something...

I picked up the note and unfolded it. Inside was just a small message.

_**'I know you're feeling sad and upset about what happened, so I thought this will cheer you up.  
I hope you like it. If not, just chuck it. It doesn't really matter. **_

_**xoxo,**_

_**Courtney'** _


	4. Party Time!

**Chapter Four: Party Time!**

"Bump-bum-ba-bum. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Can't touch this." Hunter sand along to himself."Bump-bum-ba-bum. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Can't touch this."

Courtney turned her head in his direction. "You are SO strange boy."

"You know you love me." he grinned.

"Not exactly." Courtney declined, jokingly. "But eh."

"Well that's not very nice." Hunter pouted.

Courtney lit up. "I'm just kidding, silly. I love ya, and you know that!"

Along in the back seat of the Courtney and Hunter, Valerie sat with them. Tommy was in the passenger seat.

"How much further baby?" the Levesque woman asked Paul. He was the one driving them through the streets of New York.

"Not too much left." he told her. "We made it outtatraffic, that's for sure."

Courtney was in her partying mood. She was all dressed up and excited as she always was. She couldn't wait to head to the clubs. She needed it. She hasn't been able to let loose in what it seemed like forever.

They pulled up next to a building with pumping music and bright lights flashing everywhere. Two bouncers stood at the door of the party. A good amount of people were lined up at the entrance waiting to get in.

"Now don't anybody be goin' in there with fake IDs!" Valerie said jokingly.

"Oh shit..." Paul pretended to hide and stash his back in his pocket. The others laughed at his joke.

"C'mon y'all let's get our freak on." Courtney said.

The five of them stepped out of the car once they managed to get it parked. In the club, a party was erupting. There were crowds of people everywhere. The atmosphere was just perfect.

"Yo Hunter." Valerie called to her brother.

"Yeah?" the dirty blonde responded.

"You should call Shawn and tell him to get his ass down here." she suggested.

"I tried. He said was going to chill for thenight at his hotel room." Hunter replied.

"Are you serious? Wow..." said Valerie. "Oh well, his loss."

For hours, the group had fun and a good time. When much time passed. Courtney decided to take a quick break. She approached the bar and ordered a Smirnoff.

"One Smirnoff please." she requested from the bartender.

A figure next to her, took a swig off of his own beer. After he was finished, he set down the bottle onto the table; causing it to make an empty sound.

Once the bartender came back with Courtney's drink, the man ordered one himself.

"Another Busch Light, please." the individual ordered, politely.

"Coming right up." said the bartender.

Courtney stared at him. She smiled, she knew that long hair and cowboy hat anywhere.

"I thought you weren't coming out tonight eh?" she spoke to him.

Shawn shifted his head in her direction. "Huh? Oh, I was sort of... bored, so I figured I should get out. I got your box by the way."

"Really? How'd you like it?" she asked him.

"It was nice, thank you. I appreciate that you pur that together for me." Shawn said gratefully. "I had a ball with the chocolate. Haha."

Courtney chuckled. "Haha, I figured as much."

Shawn nodded. "Yeah. ...Well hey, why don't you come and sit with me?"

Courtney looked out into the dance floor. Her friends and her brother were out there busy. So she figured, why not? She pulled up a bar stool and began getting lost in a conversation with him.


	5. After Affect

**Chapter Five: After Affect**

Courtney's body felt as is she just was in a mosh pit. She danced so much and drank one too many drinks. Though, she didn't get too drunk. But she did get enough of a buzz that her head pounded.

Courtney groaned. She didn't want to move, but she knew she had to get up. There was a taping going on and she _had _to go. If not, Vince _and _William Regal would have her ass for sure.

Something flopped over her waist. Her eyes opened up immediatly. She peered down and saw a masculine arm hanging over her. Courtney felt majorly crept out. She had no idea what was going on, or who that was! She squirmed away and tumbled frightened onto the floor. She grasped onto her chest where her heart was to regain her bret h.

Courtney looked to see who the arm belonged to. She calmed down some when she realized it wasn't a freak, nor a rapist. It was just Shawn.

A part of her bangs were dangling in front of her eyes. She tucked them behind one of her ears as she continued to examine the sleeping wonder.

"Shawn?" she called his name, blinking.

His eyes opened up a little bit, but then shut back quickly. A hangover and sunlight did not go so well with him. He groaned and then rubbed his eyes slightly. Shawn opened them back up just a little bit so no pain was inflicted upon him. Once he saw Courtney, he freaked out, covering his eyes. You could tell he was blushing madly.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed. "Uh-uh, Courtney? Why are you naked and in my hotel room??"

The raven-haired woman made a confused face. "What?"

He pointed to her.

She looked down.

Brown eyes bugged. Courtney saw that Shawn was half true. She was naked, but she did have her bra and panties on. She swore to herself out of shock and grabbed one of the blankets. With it, she covered herself, wrapping it around her.

"I-I seriously don't know what's going on as much as you do." Courtney stuttered. "But, you don't have to cover your eyes anymore. I got a blanket."

Shawn unblocked his eyes from the Diva's exposure. He blinked once. "So how did we end up in the same room?"

Courtney thought for a second. Then, she rolled her eyes at the very result she came up with.

"This has Tommy or Hunter written all over it." she told him.

* * *

"Hunter, you are so gay. Completely and utterly." Valerie told her brother. 

"Yeah yeah, and so is your boyfriend." Hunter shot back, only kidding around though. He got enjoyment out of Valerie's reaction. "You know something Val? At that club we were at last night? I could've embarassed ya by dancing. But I didn't. You know why? Because I'm so uncompletely and not-so-utterly gay."

"Really?" the younger Levesque said, not believing him.

"Yeah, I could have done something like this." Hunter said, dancing obnoxiously. He did it just to pick on her.

Valerie groaned. "I am _so _adopted..."

The elevator doors opened and Shawn and Courtney came down in to the lobby. Both were fully dressed and stood in uncomfortable and awkward silence with each other. Shawn spotted Hunter talking with his sister. Walking over to him, he put his arm around the larger male's shoulder.

"Hey Hunter, can I talk to you for a second?" The Arizona man interrupted him. He acted 'buddy-buddy' with him just to cover up his frustration.

"Sure." Hunter accepted.

Shawn walked him over to a far off part of the room out of everyone else's hearing range.

"So, do you mind telling me why Tommy's sister was naked in my bed this morning?" he asked him.

Hunter made a confused face. "She was naked? What?"

Shawn was getting even more frustrated. "That's besides the point! Why did you put us together last night?"

The Levesque put his hands up in defense. "Whoa, hey man. Come on, settle down for a minute. Just relax. You and Courtney were drunk so we figured it'd be better if you both were sharing a room. You know, so no puking in all?"

"'We'?" Shawn repeated.

"Yeah." Hunter said. "Val, Paul, Tommy and I."

"Just tell me we didn't do anything." Shawn said.

"No dude, no." Hunter replied.

"Promise?" the shorter man requested.

The Levesque nodded. "Yeah. But really man, you should try and get to know her better. She's cute. Ask her on a date."

"I don't think so." Shawn declined. "I'm still not over Rebecca."

"Give it a try." Hunter advised him.

As Hunter walked away, he gave him the look that said 'Just do it.' May be he was right, may be that's just what Shawn needed.


	6. The Question

**Chapter Six: The Question**

**A/N: I'm thinking of putting two more OCs in the next chapter. They happened to be two good friends of mine. Becky Orton (Copeland-Runnels Inc.), the sister of Randy Orton himself. And Dominique (Queen Orton) the one who wants Orton. :) I'd figure two more OCs wouldn't hurt. **

**Review.**

* * *

"Have you heard where Paul's taking me out tonight?" Valerie asked. Courtney was applying on her make-up as she talked with her.

"Nope." she responded. "Where?"

"This fancy seafood resturant called 'Oceans Delight' or something like that." the blonde explained. "It's suppose to be high class. I didn't want to do it at first because I felt spoiled. But he convinced me that it'd be fine."

"Don't you love seafood though?" Courtney replied.

"Yeah I do. Of couse." Valerie said. "But it's just the fact that it's high class and everything..."

Courtney fluffed her black hair a little. "Ah."

"You know, you should hook up with someone." Valerie suggested.

"No thanks, I'd rather not." Courtney refused, putting away her cosmetics in her dufflebag.

"Why not?" the Levesque questioned.

"This guy in OVE that I was dating for a while, ended up cheating on me." Courtney revealed.

"When was that?"

"...A while ago."

"How long ago?" Valerie questioned. "Months ago?"

Her friend was silent.

"Years ago?"

"Only two."

"Two years without dating and you're not even lonely?" Valerie said, jaw-dropped.

"No, not really." Courtney said, shrugging slightly. "I have friends for that. What's use for a boyfriend?"

"Love, affection, to make ya feel special." Valerie answered.

"Well speaking of relationships, you and London have been together for about two-going-on-three years. Why haven't you gotten married yet?" Courtney turned the tables.

"I don't know." Valerie said. "I guess we're not ready yet."

"Exactly." the Laughlin said. "That's the reason why _I_ don't want to be in a relationship. I'm not ready to be having a boyfriend."

As Couurtney was about to open her locker room door, there was Shawn standing right in front of her. She blinked once. He was holding up his hand like he was about to knock on it.

"Oh, hi, haha." Shawn chuckled.

"Hey Shawn, what's up?" Courtney greeted him. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah." Shawn said, putting his risen hand in his pocket. "I was... uh... well wondering what you were doin' tonight?"

Courtney was lost. "Nothing."

"Well, neither am I." Shawn said awkwardly. "Wanna do somethin'?"

"Like what?"

"Go out to dinner and have a cold on?" Shawn suggested.

Did he just do what Courtney believe he did? She needed a quick moment to think it over.

"Oh, uh, ... Can you hold on for a sec'?" she requested.

"Sure." the Arizona man allowed.

Courtney shut the door a little, dragging Valerie over to the far side of the room.

"Okay, am I crazy or did Shawn just ask me out?" Courtney whispered.

"Yes!" Valerie said excitedly, yet quiet. "You should totally do it."

"I can't." Courtney said with a sort of scared expression. "I-I'm just afraid the same thing will happen with my last relationship."

"Court', that was different times and a different guy." Valerie told her. "You know Shawn, he's a total sweet heart. He would never hurt you like that."

Courtney's expression still remained the same.

"Just try it." Valerie said. "You never know, it might be fun."

Her words must have worked, because Courtney was convinced now.

"Okay, I'll do it." Courtney nodded.

"Thatta girl." the blonde smiled.

The Laughlin opened the door back up and Shawn was still there.

"So?" he said.

"What time can you pick me up?" Courtney smiled.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, I'm leaving you off there. **

**Next Chapter: Shawn and Courtney's date; will it go smoothly or fall apart?**

**Review!**


	7. Dates And Fishsticks

**Chapter Seven: Dates And Fishsticks**

Courtney and Shawn decided with Valerie and Paul to go on a double date. Shawn liked that idea very much. He told himself that it'd be less awkward that way, and if Hunter was right. He needed to get over Rebecca and dating again would possibly help him. And may be, along the way, he could try and see if anything sparked.

The four walked in Oceans Delight dressed in clothes to match the occasion. They looked around, impressed by the scenery of the resturaunt.

"Dang, you were right Val, this _is _fancy." said Courtney.

"Anything for my baby doll." Paul kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. Valerie let out a tiny, girlish giggle.

"Yeah London, who'd you have to go on down on to get her this?" Shawn joked, laughing some.

"Shut up Shawn!" Valerie squeaked. She couldn't help but laugh too.

"Nice man, nice." Paul smiled sheepishly.

A waiter approached the bunch of them. "Hell, welcome to Oceans Delights. Would you like a smoking or non-smoking area?"

"Non-smoking, please." Paul chose.

"Yes sir, right this way." said the waiter grabbing a few menus.

He let them to an open table near a window. They sat down and the man passed out the menus to each of them.

"Thank you." Shawn thanked him.

"You're most certainly welcome." he said. He pulled out a notepad and pen. "Would you like anything to drink?"

The group looked down at their options.

"Holy shit..." Valerie whsipered to Paul. "These prices are totally bogus."

Paul put his hand down on the line of prices. He covered them up, trying to make it so she wouldn't worry as much.

"I told you," Paul said to her. "this night is for us. Don't freak, okay?"

His girlfriend smiled confidently. "Okay."

"And what would you like sir?" the waiter asked Paul.

"Ahh, I think I'll take a Coke please." he decided.

The man scribbled the order down. "One Coke...(He looked at Valerie)...And you miss?"

"I'll take a Moutain Dew." she said.

"One Moutain Dew..." he wrote the last order of drinks down. "Okay, got it. Would you all like to order your food now? Or do you need some time?"

"I think we'll take a few minutes." Paul said.

He nodded and left them to their business.

"This is really amazing." Courtney said. "Thanks again for everything, guys."

Paul and Valerie responded with 'You're welcomes' and other things as well.

"So how are things going for you?" Shanw started up a conversation with Courtney. "You know, in the ring and what not."

Courtney shrugged. "Eh, it's going... and what not."

She smiled, chuckling some. He could see she was only joking with him.

"If you want, I can help you train some time." he offered.

"Sure, that sounds great." she accepted, gratefully. "But is there anything else you like besides wrestling, Mr. Heartbreak Kid?"

"You know me." Shawn said. "Loads of things."

"Liiiike posing for Playgirl, for example?" Courtney pointed out on purpose. She giggled.

"Hey, that was a long time ago." Shawn laughed. "I'd rather leave it there, thanks. Haha."

Courtney still giggled. "Awe, I'm sorry about that."

Valerie smiled at the sight of her best friend and Shawn getting along_. 'Wow, they have great chemistry together. I wonder if they notice it too.'_

The blonde then saw two individuals walk in at the entrance.

She nudged Paul. "Hey, look who's here."

He lifted up his head from reading his menu. Paul saw who she was talking about; Becky Orton and Domonique Betts.

"Looks like more of us were coming." he said.

"Do you mind if I talk to them for a minute?" Valerie asked him.

He waved it off, carelessly. "Yeah, no problem. Go ahead."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Valerie said, smooching him on the cheek. She ran over to the two girls, while Courtney stayed behind. She was still talking to Shawn.

She approached the two girls in a friendly manner. "Hey chics."

Becky looked at her, blinked once and then smiled. "Hey you! I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah." the blonde smiled. "I'm actually on a double date with Paul, Courtney and Shawn."

Dominique's eyes widen some. "Michaels? Nu'uh really?"

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking." Valerie grinned. "Shawn asked _her _out and well I figured Courtney hasn't dated for a while so it was good for her to get out."

"True, true." she replied.

"What are you two doing here?" Valerie asked.

"Just eating. We don't have any dates." Becky said. "Cody's out for the evening with Kendrick and some other boys."

"Aaaand Randy's not here. Of course." Dominique pouted. She had a thing for Becky's brother, but wasn't dating him. She did love flirting with him all the time.

"Aww, I'm sorry." the Levesque giggled.

"Valerie!" Courtney called her friend.

The blonde looked back. Courtney motioned her to come over to the table since the appetizers had arrived.

Valerie turned back to Becky. "Well, I gotta go for a bit. I'll talk to you later."

"All right, see ya man." Becky replied.

"Bye." Dominique followed.

Valerie sat down next to her boyfriend while the others began to snack on their food.

"Oh-migosh. I absolutely _love _fishsticks." Courtney said, joyfully looking down at her plate. She picked one up and took a bite out of it. Shawn just watched as she enjoyed herself.

The blonde chuckled. "Well, looks like I found out your weakness."

Courtney smirked as she swallowed it down and took a drink. "Hm, just may be."

Shawn picked one of them up. "Wow, how long has it been since I had one of these? Probably since like the fifth grade..."

The Laughlin's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? Are you trying to say you haven't eaten these since grade school?"

He played innocent. "Well, yeah. Haha. I'm not a big fan of it."

"Oh, don't say that until _I _make you some." Courtney said, proudly. "You haven't lived until you try some of mine."

Valerie put up a hand. "I can definitely back that up."

"All right. I'll keep that in mind when we cook food and stuff together." Shawn promised.

Courtney giggled. "Okay."

* * *

A little later into the night and they got into some of their dinner. They kept talking and having a good time and just enjoying the night.

Becky stepped over from her table, to Courtney and Valerie's. The young woman had a big smile on her face. She sat next to Courtney while she whispered something into her ear.

"You see my brother over there?" she said to her, pointing to Randy. He was talking to Dominique.

"Yeah, what about him?" Courtney nodded.

"Well, he just arrived to tell me something. I pretended to leave for a minute so Randy and Dom could talk. Now just watch. Randy's going to tell her something that she likes, Dominique's going to giggle once, play 'lovey eyes', and then flip her hair." Becky predicted.

"Ah huh..." Courtney understood, as she examined Becky's friend in the works. Randy and Dominique both did as Becky said, and the cherry on the top was when Dominique did the hair flip. Courtney smiled and then whispered something across the table to Valerie, then said the same thing to Becky. She started to cheer loudly toward Dominique and Valerie and Becky joined in. Courtney took one of the pens off of the table and wrote down '9.5' on it and then flashed it to her, like she was being judged.

Dominique did indeed see, and just gave them all a embarassed smile and a sarcastic stare like 'Thanks guys, I really needed that'.

Shawn just laughed at the girls as they were being silly. A double date was indeed just perfect.


	8. At The Beach

**Chapter Eight: At The Beach**

Weeks later Vince talked to a few of his top Divas to do a beach photoshoot for the newest addition for RAW magazine in Miami, Florida. A couple of the top Divas included Courtney and Valerie.

"This is so kick ass. I can't wait to do this!" Courtney said excitedly.

"Yeah I know, this is going to be amazing." Valerie agreed.

"You've been here longer than I have," Courtney replied. "have you been in a photoshoot?"

"Well, Playboy offered me some money to do stuff for them, but I rejected them." Valerie explained. "Same with Hustler."

The Laughlin made a face. "Ugh, I hate Hustler. There's nothing but trash in there. Playboy's not that bad, but I understand where you're coming from."

Valerie nodded. "Yeah. So anyways, it seemed you and Shawn really hit it off last night."

Courtney rolled her eyes, smiling cheesily. "Yeah, yeah. Well I don't know... do you really think it could work out between us?"

The other female smirked. "Is someone ACTUALLY interested?"

Courtney blushed and laughed. "_May be._"

"Oh ho ho ho!" Valerie laughed. "But seriously, yes I think it can work out between you two. And both you and Shawn are adorable together."

"I do really like him." Courtney said, honestly. "But I don't know, I'm not sure if he really likes me as much as I do to him."

"Court', shut up. He does. Trust me." she said.

"Okay, fine. We'll see." the other female laughed.

* * *

Lights flashed back and forth. Valerie sat there, looking as attractive as she possibly could. She had on a bathing suit top on her upper half and ripped up jean shorts on the lower part. It was nothing too revealing. Courtney watched as the photographers took pictures of every inch of Valerie they could get.

After some time, it was her time to pose Valerie got back into her jeans, covering the bottom part of her bikini. So she got down into the sand and postioned herself in the way that they wanted. They added just a little bit of make-up and then started clicking away.

"Just relax, Courtney." Valerie said, from the sidelines.

Courtney tried her best. But being honest with herself, Courtney was actually nervous. It was her first time. Though didn't every Diva feel like this in her first photoshoot?

Courtney also felt spoiled in a way. She never got to do this before. It was like a gift given to her. She felt special and like she was on top of the world. It was definitely a good feeling.

Valerie kept on with words of comfort to her friend. She wasn't expecting it, but Shawn approached and came up to her. She put a hand on her shoulder, greeting her.

"Hey, what's up?" he spoke.

"Nothing." Valerie replied.

Shawn looked at Courtney with amazement. He had never seen her like this. "Wow..."

"Yeah." Valerie agreed. "She's kinda nervous right now though, so let's not bother her. Wanna go get a quick drink?"

Shawn nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Walking over and out of the beach, the two individuals headed toward a open store.

"Two Cokes, please." Valerie ordered from the man inside.

"Comin' up." he said.

"Thanks." Valerie replied to him. She grabbeda couple dollars out of her jeans and placed it on the counter."So, Shawn."

"So, Valerie." Shawn responded.

"What do you think of Courtney?" she asked him.

"What d'you mean? I've known her forever." Shawn said, oblivious to the real detail behind Valerie's question.

"No, not that. I mean, like, are you... into her?" Valerie rephrased it.

"I don't know." Shawn said, honestly. "I need more time before I can give you a straight answer to that."

The man came back with the sodas. Valerie took hers and snapped it open.

She smirked. "Okay, then."

Walking back over to the photoshoot, Courtney finished up with all of her poses.

The Laughlin smiled at the sight of Shawn. "Hey there, what're you doin' here, stranger?"

"Just seein' my two favorite girls, of course." Shawn smiled.

"Aw, you're such a nice guy." Courtney said.

"Well I try," the Arizona man said. "Hey, wanna go for a walk? It's a beautiful day, and you seem like you could take a break from posing."

Courtney and Valerie nodded.

"Sure." said the blacknette.


	9. Arizona Or Bust

**Chapter Nine: Arizona Or Bust**

The three of them came to a stop when they approached the doors of a Holiday Inn. Courtney didn't see it, but through out the whole walk back, she had a permanent toothy smile imprinted on her face. She had a great time talking to Shawn and simply being around his prescense. It was exactly the same way with Shawn. But there was one thing; they wouldn't tell each other. Though, their body language was plainly obvious. Some strangers that passed them probably though that they _were _a couple. But may be it just wasn't the right time to say anything. Time; that was what they needed.

Valerie, in her mind, wished she had Paul with her. But she made it so him and her brother hung out with each other for the night. Shawn had no idea about it, and that's how he basically stumbled apon the girls. To Courtney and Valerie, it was fine. Valerie didn't really care that she was the third wheel. She was happy that Courtney and Shawn got their time together. It was cute.

"So, what are thou doing ahf-tah thee next RAW?" Shawn asked in an olden times voice. He and Courtney had been playing their little game all night.

Courtney acted out an impression of a thinking man. She rubbed the bottom of her chin and arched an eyebrow.

"Hmm, ah deh-no!" she said, in the same type voice. "Possibleh nothing at'tall! Why do thou ah-sk?"

Shawn took her hand, like he was about to lead her out onto a dance floor.

"Well my fair lady..." he said, in a normal voice. "You wouldn't mind going with me in sight-seeing when we go to Phoenix?"

"Arizona?" Courtney blinked. "Isn't that your home state?"

"Exactly." Shawn said, grinning some.

"Aaaand Phoenix isn't that glamorous." Valerie spoke up. "Trust me, babe."

"Yeah well, Phoenix _does _suck." Shawn admitted. "But! I do have another solution. We could head to Chandler or go visit Prescott if you want."

Courtney shrugged. "Sure, why not? Which ever town works."

"Well pick one."

"I don't know which. Haha."

"It doesn't matter."

"How about Chandler?" Courtney chose. "I wanna see where Mr. HBK grew up."

"Okay, Chandler it is." Shawn marked. "Right after RAW."

The Laughlin nodded. She knew she had to wrap it up soon. She didn't want it getting too uncomfortable for Valerie. "Right after RAW. But uh, I gotta go. So, I'll talk to you later. 'Kay?"

"Got it." Shawn understood.

"All right." Courtney smiled. She stood up on the tips of her toes just to reach his face. She put her hand on his chest and gave him a light, quick smooch on the cheek. Then, as she began to walk off with Valerie. She waved to him. "'Bye."

Valerie did walk away with her, but she was too busy staring at her friend in shock. She couldn't believe her friend just pulled off that move.

Shawn waved back, smiled, and headed on his own way.

"I-wow, didn't see that coming..." Valerie told her.

Courtney smiled. "I know, he's just... different."

* * *

**A/N: Yep. You're being left off there. Bwahaha. Sorry that it's kinda lame, though.**

**Next chapter: The visit in Chandler; will it be great or will it go down in pieces? Also, Shawn shows Courtney something he's never done before. But what will it be?**

**Review. **


	10. Have A Good Time

**Chapter Ten: Have A Good Time**

**A/N: Dude, did you see Shawn Monday (04/07/08)? He was like, really hardcore. **

**Ugh, and I HATE Batista for what he said. I mean, I already hated him, but I hate him even more now. He's such a prick!**

**Oh and ahahahahaha Jericho says 'sorry' wierd. **

**Sorry. Just thought I'd say something about it.**

**Review.**

* * *

_'Shortie had them apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club lookin' at her...'_

Courtney's entrance theme, 'Low' by Flo Rida came on and everyone went crazy. Lights flickered back and forth like strob lights as the young lady came out.

"The following match is a Diva tag-team match!" Lilian announced. "Arriving to the ring from Yonkers, New York weighing in at 125 lbs -- Courtney!"

_'...She hit the floor, next thing you know, shortie got low, low, low low...' _the song continued.

Courtney preformed a dance move where she popped her ass down to the ground. She knew the fans loved that. Especially the males. But Courtney wasn't about impressing the males' with her lustful moves, but more what she could do in the ring. Once she got up, she shot up to her feet and threw her pointer finger in the air. Like a Trish Stratus-esque way.

Her music lowered, and Courtney waited at the front of the right. Valerie's song came on next.

_'They said 'Oh, teenagers scare, the living s-- out of me. They could care less, unless someone'll bleed...'_

And as Valerie flashed her sexy pose, a pair of red fireworks shot off.

_'So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose. May be they'll leave you alone, but not me!'_

"And her tag team partner, Valerie!" Lilian continued. The other two women, Candice and Mickie James we're already in the ring. So now, it was time to battle. Valerie walked up to her friend and gave her a high five. The both of them entered into the ring and the match began.

"I like this two women, a lot King. They have great chemistry in the ring." said J.R. "Don't you agree?"

"Yes, they are very smooth and talented in the ring." King replied. "That new girl, Courtney is doing very well for herself."

"I agree with that statement as well." J.R. replied.

Courtney was first to be in the ring against Candice Michelle. The two of them circled the ring like two wolves. They began to slowly approach each other, holding out their hands to grapple. But Candice had something else planned. She pulled a trick on Courtney as she shook her head and smacked her, right in the face. Courtney then just smiled after it and then preformed a neck breaker on Candice.

"And Candice Michelle goes down by a neck breaker by Courtney!" J.R. exclaimed.

Courtney tagged in Valerie with a smug look on her face. Valerie smiled back, excited and pumped to get her hands on Candice, herself. Valerie swiftly adjusted herself through the ropes and into the ring. She grabbed Candice up by her thick, dark hair. Valerie rammed her into one of the turn buckles. Candice bounced back and fell to the mat. Valerie started punching her as she lied there. Mickie James then came in and flung her off of her tag-team partner. That's when Courtney came in and attacked her back for coming after Valerie. The ref eventually broke the girls up and told Courtney and Mickie to go back to their corners. Courtney held up her hands in defense as she backed up, slowly. She get back outside of the ring and waited to be tagged in.

The match continued on only for more than a couple minutes. And then it was over, the winners were announced.

"And here are your winners, Courtney and Valerie!"

* * *

"Whoo, that was a good match!" Courtney cheered to herself, feeling victorious.

"Yeah, it was!!" Valerie cheered, as well.

They were coming out of the back doors of the arena, but as they stepped one foot out of the building, cheering and screaming went on. It was fans.

There was a group of fans behind a few bodyguards that were going wild. Valerie spotted a certain familiar diry blonde man and nudged her friend.

"Hey, Shawn, at one o'clock." she alerted her.

Courtney looked up. Shawn was by the crowd, practically engulfed in the fans, signing one autograph, giving out hugs, and taking pictures with them one at a time. She smiled as she saw him.

"Be right back." she said to Valerie.

She jogged over to Shawn and the group of fans and joined him in autograph signing. Courtney grabbed the nearest paper and pen of a fan and wrote down her autograph.

"Hey." she said over to Shawn.

He knew he was by her, and replied. "Hey, you ready?"

"Yeah, I am." she replied. "I can't wait, I'm so excited."

She smiled as she saw the joy in Shawn's eyes that she was excited. She knew that he was happy to hear that Courtney wanted to see Arizona. And after signing the autographs for fans and saying her good-byes to Valerie and the others, the two RAW Superstars headed down to the airport.

* * *

"You're kidding?"

"No, I'm sorry, sir, but that's the last available time until tomorrow."

"Okay, okay, fine. We'll take it." Shawn said, impatiently to the lady at the counter. He gave her some money to her and bought two tickets. When he was finished, he looked over at Courtney. "There's no plane to Phoenix until three AM."

A splash of disappointment came over Courtney's face. "Are you serious? Oh, man. What're we going to do?"

"I already bought the tickets, so, we're gonna have to go." he informed her. "Let's just stay in a hotel for the night and get at least some sleep."

Courtney nodded. "Yeah, okay."

* * *

Shawn and Courtney arrived at the closest hotel they could. When they got a room, they did nothing but get ready to go to bed. They were going to need all of the energy they could get.

The blonde male had just finished up showering. He came out dressed in only baggy black pajama pants and a towel in his hands, drying off his orange-tinted, blonde hair. Though as he came out, he might've stepped out at the wrong time.

Courtney unclipped her bra and took it off. Shawn stared in wonder at her. He never really saw Courtney in this way before. Yes, he did see her in a sexy beach photoshoot, but never in _this _way.

Of course, she had her back turned to him and didn't notice Shawn at all. But the chance of staring any longer didn't last too long.

"Shawn?" Courtney called to him, rather loudly. She still thought he was in the shower.

Shawn jumped slightly out of being startled and panicked. He scampered back into the bathroom, closing the door gently so he wouldn't make any noise. Courtney called his name a second time. Shawn was relieved, she didn't notice him and he was okay.

He responded to her, in the same volume. "Yeah?"

"Who're we going to visit when we get up to Chandler?" she asked him.

"My family and probably some friends." he answered her. "We'll see when we get there."

"Okay!"

Courtney slipped on an ECW shirt that Tommy gave her a while back. Then next was a pair of orange pajama shorts. Shawn tried acting the whole situation off and came out. He still felt a little bit awkward in the thought of being almost caught for being a pervert. Walking back over to the bed, he looked down at his feet before peering at Courtney. She was lying down, with the blankey up by her chin. She smiled bubbly at Shawn and he smiled back. He crawled on his side of the bed and turned the light off.

There was a long moment of silence. An equel amount of thoughts buzzed in both of their heads. The quiet barrier was broken down by Courtney, when Shawn turned over on his side. As soon as he did that, Courtney was fancinated with his hair and started putting her fingers through it. Shawn was surprised at first by it, but then he let it go and didn't care.

"I love your hair, it's so soft." she said, as she played with it.

Shawn merely chuckled slightly as a response. He let himself fall asleep to her gentle touch.

Courtney stopped soon after and gave him a small hug. "Good-night, Shawn."

"'Night." he said quietly and tiredly.

* * *

Three or four hours later, Shawn woke up Courtney and the two of them headed back to the airport. This time, the two of them were able to finally get on a plane. They booked two first class seats and situated themselves comfortable in them. Shawn let Courtney have the window so she could lean over and fall asleep on the wall. A stewerdess came over and helped them with pillows and anything that they needed.

"Would you like any drinks or food?" she asked Shawn.

"I'll just take a coffee, and-" he looked over at Courtney, but she fell back in her slumber. "-Nothing for her right now, I'm just going to let her sleep."

"Okay. I'll be right back." the stewerdess said.

"Okay, thanks." Shawn replied. He planned on staying up since he was going to be doing all the driving back when he got down to Phoenix, to Chandler. He needed something to boost him up.

As the stewerdess came back with his coffee, she poured some in a cup, and put the other things in it that he needed. Leaving, he took a sip and just relaxed.

Shawn looked back over to Courtney and placed his hand on her's, in a comforting way. He smiled at the sleeiping beauty. The trip wasn't even started, but he was enjoying it already.

* * *

"Wakey-wakey." chirpped a welcoming voice.

The aroma of meat, bread, and food teased Courtney's nose. Her tired and weary eyes opened up to the sight of Shawn waving a burger in her face to get her up.

"Ah, there you are. I got you some breakfast." he said.

The half-asleep zombie stretched her arms and yawned. She smiled, greeting him back. Her voice was groggy. "What'd you get?"

"In-And-Out."

"In-And-What?" Courtney blinked.

"You've never heard of In-And-Out?" Shawn asked.

The Laughlin shook her head.

"They have THEE best food ever." he said. "Try some."

Courtney smiled, taking the burger from his hands. "Okay."

She took one bite of it and let her taste buds wrap themselves around it. Her facial expression turned satisfied and enjoyed.

"Like it?" Shawn asked.

Courtney nodded, brightly. After she chewed her bite, she swallowed it down to ask Shawn a question. "What time is it?"

"Around seven."

Courtney groaned slightly. "Ugh, I hate waking up this early. I am _so _tired."

Shawn understood, rubbing her shoulders. "Yeah, I know, me too. But don't worry, you can take a nap when we get to a hotel."

"Alright, thanks." Courtney said. She took one of the available drinks and took a sip out of it, washing down more of the In-And-Out burger. Her eyes fixed upon the sky and was instantly amazed by it. "Oh, wow!"

"What's up?" Shawn responded to her.

"Look at that sunrise, it's so beautiful!" Courtney said.

"Ah, yeah. An Arizona sunrise, they're the best." Shawn agreed. "But you should see the sunset over at my parents' house. It's amazing."

"Your parents?"

"Yeah, haven't you ever met them before?" Shawn asked.

Courtney shook her head again.

"Wow, well, wait till you meet them, they're good people." he said.

"Well if they raised you, they have to be." Courtney giggled. Shawn chuckled.

* * *

They booked a room in the hotel and settled there for the night. Then after putting everything away, they got back in the car and rode off to Shawn's parents. They stayed there for a while and visited with his family.

The two of them took a walk to A.J. Chandler Park for a little bit. It was around six PM, and the day was growing down and tired. The sky was mellowed out and fusing into an orangey and pink dusk.

"This place is gorgeous..." Courtney said.

"Yeah." Shawn muttered. "Have you ever been to Arizona before?"

"Other than Phoenix, no." she said. "Oh, and Valerie was right. That place isn't so incredibly wonderful."

Shawn nodded. "Yeah, I know. But getting away from major cities like that, down to where we are, it's a lot better. A hell of a lot."

"Yeah, true." Courtney said. "Remind me to take you to Yonkers one of these days when we're free again."

"New York?"

"Mm-hm." Courtney replied. "It's not amazing, but it is my home and I love it. I live with Tommy right now and Trisa, but I'm planning on trying to get a place of my own."

"Beulah? Wow, I haven't spoke to her in years. How's she doing?" Shawn asked, interested.

"Pretty good. She's taking care of the girls, and is a full-time house wife." Courtney explained.

"That's good."

Courtney had a lot on her mind. She wanted to ask Shawn something important, but she was too afraid to bring it up. It involved the both of them, but she was afraid that he still had Rebecca on his mind. Courtney was starting to like him a lot, but did he like her just the same.

_'Oh well, just ask him, girl. It's better now, then never.' _Courtney thought to herself. She swallowed hard and took it head on. She was just afraid that it was going to wreck everything though.

"Shawn." she finally managed to say his name.

"Yeah?" he gave his attention to her. Courtney remained silent. Shawn stopped for a minute, and looked into her eyes. He knew she wanted to say something, but nothing was coming out. "What is it?"

Courtney forced it out of her. "Shawn, we've known each other for a while, right?"

Just then, Courtney was mentally kicking herself for what she just say.

_'Oh, my GOSH. That was the cheesiest line, EVER!' _Courtney thought. _'Great. I just hope I don't word-vomit. WAY TO GO, SELF.'_

Shawn followed on. "Yeah, why?"

Courtney swallowed hard again. "Shawn, I-(she sighed and looked him from the ground, to straight in his eye)-I know this isn't probably the best time, and frankly, I don't know why I'm even doing this. But for the passed weeks, I have felt some things that I didn't know were even possible to feel. I've always seen you as my friend for so long, though..."

Courtney's hands were shaking and unsteady, and so was her breath. She was so nervous. She didn't want to ruin her and Shawn's friendship by the words she wanted to say.

"...I really have these deep, strong feelings for you. And I want to try something, if you are willing to..." she finished.

Shawn nodded, taking it all in. He half-smiled. "You know, it's funny, because, something on the lines of the exact same thing was going on with me. Courtney, I think you're an amazing, cute, beautiful girl. I do have strong feelings for you, too. But I don't think I'm exactly ready yet."

At this point, Courtney didn't know if she should be crushed, or relieved. But she had to say something.

"I understand." she said. "But even if it's just a short while, I won't mind. I know you're still very much connected to Rebecca. Though, I just want to see if this is right. I know how you feel when to get your heart broken. But Valerie helped me out of my shell and I wanna try and help you. If you don't want to do this at all, I get it. I'll stop. I'm not forcing you to do anything."

Shawn knew she was right. Rebecca wasn't coming back. He would still visit her and the kids when he could, but time wasn't going to last forever for him.

"Okay." Shawn said. "I'll do it."


	11. Surprise!

**Chapter Eleven: Surprise!**

The following RAW, Shawn and Courtney flew to the next arena they were schedueled to be at. Though even though they were suppose to, they didn't call any of their friends to inform that they were back. Why? They had a big surprise for the group and they wanted to see their expressions in person. It was definitely jaw-dropping.

"So what do you say, just one room for the both of us?" Shawn asked her.

"Sounds good, babe." Courtney replied, with a small giggle as they walked down the locker room hall, fingers laced togther.

* * *

_"...And you're all like 'Ahhhh!' with the muscles and the water! It's amazing, man!"_

Valerie laughed at the television set. She and Paul were in Paul's locker room watching old videos of the Attitude Era. The particulaar one that they were watching currently was with Hunter and Rob Van Dam.

"Wow, Rob's such a weirdo." said Valerie.

"Tch'yeah!" her boyfriend instantly agreed. "And this is the same guy who tried getting Kane Hungry-Hungry Hippos for Christmas."

Valerie nodded. "Hah! Ah, yeah. I remember that. Man, Rob sure was a strange one."

There was a knock at the door. Paul got up and answered it. Opening it, Hunter stood before him.

"Hey man, is my sister in there?" the blonde asked.

Of course Valerie heard him and responded for Paul. "Yeah, Hunter! I'm here! (She got up and walked to the door and peeked outside to him.) What's up?"

"Do you know where the hell Shawn and Courtney are?" he asked, with slight concern in his voice.

Valerie shook her head, just as clueless as he was. "No, they haven't called at all today."

"Are you freakin' serious?" Hunter replied. He sighed, frustrated and annoyed. "Shawn and I got plans today."

"To do what?" Paul asked.

"Just a bunch of shit." Hunter muttered.

A hand fell upon Hunter's shoulder.

"Well don't worry Hunter, I'm sure Shawn'll be back _real _soon."

The large male turned around. His best friend stood behind him. A large wave of relief washed over Hunter, but still he had questions he wanted answered. "Dude! Where were you two?"

"Sorry, we were kinda busy, you know." Shawn said. His and Courtney's hands were still held together. He swung them slightly to give him a clue.

Hunter didn't notice though. He was still oblivious. "Doing what?"

Shawn lifted up his and Courtney's hands and scratched his cheek with his left index finger. "Hm, you know, just... stuff."

Valerie wanted to know what was going on. She pushed herself through Hunter and Paul. "Whoa, wait. You two are-"

"Bingo! Yatzee! Yes, the answer is 'together'! Ding, ding, ding!" Courtney exclaimed, jokingly.

"What?" Hunter blinked. "Oh! Okay, I see. With the hands and stuff..."

Valerie slid her hand down her forehead. She shook her hand at her brother. "You're a retard, I swear."

"Hey, well, sor-ry if I didn't see it." Hunter said.

"So when did this happen?" Paul asked them.

"Just the other day, actually." Courtney answered him. Shawn nodded.

"Well, I'm never leaving you too alone again, if you don't call me and tell me what's up." Hunter warned them, light-heartedly.

Courtney just giggled. "Yeah so, hey I gotta get ready. I got a match coming up. (She looked up at Shawn) So, I'll see you after the show?"

"You know it." Shawn said as he pecked a kiss on her lips.

"Okay, see ya." she waved and smiled widely.

"See ya." Shawn replied.

"Awwww, you guys are so cute!" Hunter cooed, mockingly.

"Oh, eat me, Hunter." Shawn laughed at his friend.


	12. Ric's Choice

**Chapter Twelve: Ric's Choice**

Shawn finished up taping his wrists as he headed over to the curtain. Courtney was already finished with her match, so she headed back to her locker room to shower and dress.

"Shawn." called a deep, masculine voice from the background.

Shawn stopped in his tracks and looked over at who was calling him. It was Vince. "Yeah, Vince?"

"Can I see you in my office later?" he requested. "I need to talk to you about some private matter."

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

Courtney dried her thick, long locks with one of the free towels. She earlier had slipped on a pair of black and white sweatpants, a purple spaghetti-strap shirt with her black hoodie with cheetah print in it.

After getting her hair as dry as she needed, she pulled it back into a pnytail. Then she started to dab on a little bit of make-up.

Outside of her door, Becky and Domonique were trying to find out where she was. They searched all throughout the backstage, but they couldn't find her anywhere. As they turned around to look in another direction, Becky accidently bumped into Hunter.

"Whoa, hey there, big man! Sorry about that." Becky apologized.

"No prob." he said, before heading off into a different direction, but Becky stopped him again.

"Hey, wait." she said. Hunter turned back around. "Do you know where Courtney is?"

"Uh, yeah, last time I saw her, she was off to her locker room." he answered her.

"Okay, thanks."

The two of them headed down the halls, until they reached her room. A couple of knocks hit her door.

"Just a sec'!" Courtney hollered to the guest.

She gathered up her things into her purple and red dufflebah and in her suitcase. Then she opened the door to see who wanted her. The next thing she knew, she was being yanked out by her arm.

"Whoa, holy hell!!" she exclaimed. Courtney then founded herself being pressed up against the wall.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Becky asked.

"Tell you what?" Courtney blinked, confused and somewhat scared by her friend's actions.

"About you and Mr. HBK. You guys are _actually_ dating?" Becky said, amazed.

Courtney arched an eyebrow. "How did you know about that?"

"Please girl, the whole roster knows about it." Domonique said. "Well, at least RAW does."

"Oh." Courtney said, simply. "Well, yeah, we are."

"That is so cool!" Becky smiled, widely. "For how long? When? Where? And who asked who?"

The Laughlin stopped for a second to answer all of her questions. "Since yesterday, the other night, in Chandler, and I did."

"_You _asked him?" Domonique said.

"Yeah, why?" Courtney said.

"Isn't the guy suppose to ask?" she blinked.

Courtney shrugged. "Eh, I don't follow that rule. Who cares?"

"So, what're you guys doing for your first date?" Becky asked slyly.

"I have no idea." Courtney said, honestly. "I don't even know where he is right now."

"Shawn? Oh he's doing a match right now with Kennedy." Becky informed her. "He should be done in like... well, now."

"Ah, I see." the Laughlin nodded. "Well, I need to go meet up with him. But I'll call you guys later about whatever happens."

They split their ways. Before doing so, Becky said, light-heartedly "You better."

Courtney laughed, and waved once. "'Bye."

* * *

"And here is your winner, Shawn Michaels!"

_'I think I'm cute, I know I'm sexy. I got the looks, that drive the girls wild...'_

He smiled at the crowd and then exited the ring, leaving his long time rival, lying unconcious. As he made his way up onto the runway and into the backstage. As he disappeared through the curtains, he met with Courtney.

"Oh, hey." he said, out of breath. "I need to talk to you. Vince wants to talk to me, so just go on to the hotel without me. Okay?"

"Oh. Okay." Courtney said. "Will you call me on your way back?"

"I don't know how long I'll be. I don't wanna wake you up if you're asleep." Shawn said.

"Alright. Well, whenever you get home, is fine." Courtney said. She pecked him on the lips. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

After showering and changing into new clothes, Shawn headed to Vince's office. He didn't want to come to him all sweaty and in his ring gear.

He knocked a few times on his door.

"Come in!"

He opened up the door and stepped inside of his office. "You wanted to see me, Vince?"

"Sit down, Shawn." the Chairman instructed. Shawn did so. "You know about Wrestlemania being in March?"

"Yes sir." Shawn obeyed. He sat down in one of the free chairs. "What about it?"

"Ric will be retiring soon, and we're going to have it there." Vince said. "Only problem, he wants someone to give him his last fight. And well, he picked you."

The Arizona man's heart dropped. "What?"

"Yes, he asked if we can have you go against him." Vince said. "It's his choice and there's no one else he picked for seconds. Do you think you can do this?"

"I don't think so Vince, I mean, Ric's..." Shawn trailed off for a moment, and then continued speaking. He realized that he had no other choice but to do it. "...Nevermind. I'll do it."


	13. I Have Faith In You

**Chapter Thirteen: I Have Faith In You**

Shawn wasn't happy with being the one that had to force Ric into retirement. Besides Hunter, he was one of Shawn's best friends. This wasn't fair. He could already hear the world booing him now.

He entered gloomily into his hotel room. His head was swollen with many different thoughts. Everything around him was dark. The only light shining in the room was from the television set being on. Courtney was lying on the bed watching the show that was currently on. As soon as she heard and saw Shawn come in, she perked her head up and smiled.

"Hey hun, what did Vince wanna talk with you about?" Courtney asked, climbind down from the bed and greeting him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him on his scruffy cheek. she realized that something was wrong and her smile quickly faded. "What's wrong?"

Shawn sighed. "Ric wants me to be the one to end his career at Wrestlemania."

"Oh." Courtney said, simply. "Well that's good, isn't it? I mean, who better to give him his last match, than you; someone so highly respected in the business. It's better than Kennedy or Copeland. Not that there's anything wrong with them. But do you know what I mean?"

Shawn held onto her, gently. "Yeah, but Hunter could've done it or-"

"-But Ric picked you." Courtney cut him off. "Yes Ric and Hunter are just as close, but you and Ric have a special bond. It would be like _me _having _my _last match. Who would I pick? Valerie, of course. Why? Because she is my best friend. I wouldn't wanna be taken out by anybody else."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Shawn said. "But, hey, listen, I'm going to go talk with Ric. He's a floor down. I'll be done in like a few minutes."

Courtney nodded. "Okay. Take as long as you have to."

"Alright." Shawn kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

A couple knocks hit the door of room 237. Shawn waited patiently for a response.

The gold knob jiggled a little bit before being opened.

"Shawn?" Ric blinked, confused.

"Can I talk to you for a sec'?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, sure." Ric nodded. "Come in."

The Arizona man did so and stepped inside. It was quiet for a moment before Ric shut the door.

"What's goin' on?" Ric asked.

"I need to ask you, why you chose me for your retirement match." Shawn told him.

Ric sighed. He had a feeling this was coming. "Shawn, I know your probably upset, but you were the only one I could think of. I thought to myself 'Who was the best for my retirement match opponent?' Of course I wanted a close and personal friend of mine in the business. Hunter was already inducting me and Bautista wouldn't have wanted to do it. I knew that you were the best choice."

"But I don't want to do it either." Shawn said. "I _can't _do it. You were my biggest inspiration to step into the business. And to take _you _of all people out of the ring? (He shook his head) Uh-uh, I can't do it."

"Yes, yes you can, Shawn." Ric said.

"How do you know?" Shawn asked.

"I have faith in you."


	14. Old Yeller

**Chapter Fourteen: Old Yeller**

_'Whoooooo!'_

The fans were on their feet cheering. Ric stepped out through the curtain dressed in a dark suit instead of his ring attire. A good amount of time had pased and now it was the final RAW before Wrestlemania 24. Through the time before, Ric was battling through many career-threatening matches. His opponents ranged from Umaga, to Edge, to Mr. Kennedy, to Vince, to other Superstars. Winning everytime, it wouldn't last too much longer. His career would eventually end up being finished. Forever.

Ric headed into the ring, picking up his mic and starting the promo. He had a big smile on his face. He loved the sound of the happy response, and the flying banners and bright signs all directed toward him. He couldn't get enough of the respectful and loyal fans he had. They meant everything to him just as much as his friends and his family. He had a good, long run in the business. He was going to miss it so much, but he knew it was time to go. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Ric knew in his heart and in his mind, nothing lasted forever.

The audience silenced themselves and gave their respect to Ric so he could talk. He began speaking his introduction and then he went on to talking about being saved by people. Getting too much pity and sympathy. He was getting tired of it.

"...And I lost respect for one man for doing so." Ric told the world. "...Shawn, will you please come out here?"

Not even a minute passed when the Arizona male's music started up. All the fans went wild.

_'I think I'm cute, I know I'm sexy. I got the looks, that drives the girls wild...'_

The Heartbreak Kid stepped out from the curtains and backstage and started walking down the runway. He was also dressed in casual wear with his signature cowboy hat on his head.

He stepped up onto the steel stairs, grabbing the mic and entered inside the ring with Ric. He didn't speak first, he only tried to listen to what he had to say to him. He didn't look to surprised that he would do this.

They talked about the incident with Shawn saving Ric from his last career threatening match. It went on for a little bit. Shawn kept an emotionless expression through out the whole conversation. He apologized for Ric losing some respect for him and a bunch of other topics.

And then, when they thought it was over and thought Ric and Shawn had closure and agreement, Shawn stopped in his tracks and didn't leave the ring.

"Hold on." Shawn said. "I have one more thing to say."

Ric looked at him, paying his attention to him.

"Do you remember the story about Old Yeller? They loved that dog. but eventually when time passed, and he grew older, they had to take Old Yeller back behind the shed and-(Shawn formed a gun with his hands and put it up to Ric's temple)-put him outta his misery. Come Sunday, that's exactly what I'm going to do when we're together in that ring. I'm going to put you outta your misery."

The audience was at the ends of their seats.

Ric nodded his head, he understood. He turned around and dropped the mic. In anger, he whipped off his jacket, kicking it out of the ring along with his retired championship belt. He picked up the mic again and faced Shawn. "Old Yeller?! Are you kidding me?! Old Yeller I'll show you, your Old Yeller!"

Smack across the face. Shawn's hat fell off of his head and onto the mat.

The fans responded negatively.

Shawn didn't react any differently.

"You want some of your Old Yeller?!" Ric shouted again. "Come get some-"

Another smack across the face.

Still, Shawn did nothing. The only response he had before exiting was "Like I said, I'm going to put you outta your misery."

His music played as he left the ring and started walking up the ramp.


	15. I'm Sorry, I Love You

**Chapter Fifteen: I'm Sorry, I Love You**

"Are you ready to do this?"

"As I'll ever have to be."

Courtney placed Shawn's cowboy hat on top of his head. Then she put her hands on the sides of his face.

"Good." she said. "Bcause, you know what? You'll be fine no matter what happens. And this'll all be over soon before you know it. I promise."

"Yeah, hopefully." Shawn said. He smooched her, and she returned them with a smooch on both the lips and his forehead. "I love you, I'll see you soon."

"I love you, too." she said. Before she left, she looked back at him and said one more thing. "Remember, don't worry, okay?"

"Alright, I'll try."

Courtney smiled at him as she stepped out. Outside of the door, stood Valerie and Tommy.

"How is he?" Valerie asked her.

The other female shook her head and sighed. "He doesn't want to do it. But he knows that it'll be fine no matter what. That's what I told him."

"Well of course he doesn't wanna do it." Tommy said. "None of us do. But Ric has to go some way, you know?"

Valerie nudged Tommy in the arm, insulted. "Tommy!"

"What, it's the truth!" Tommy shrugged, trying to defend himself.

"I know what you mean, Tommy." Courtney said. "I'm just worried about him. He's already sad about it. He's been this way since he got the news. I just don't know how much more I can take of him like this. I hate seeing Shawn sad. It breaks my heart."

Valerie put her arm around her friend's back. "He'll be okay, trust me."

Matches went on, the fans were loving it. Some won, others were defeated. And now Shawn, Ric, Courtney and all the others were waiting on the retirement match.

After one match was finished, Lilian stood in the ring with a microphone in her hand. She was about to announce the next event.

Lilian started speaking, just as the bell was rung. "The follow match is a career threatening match. They ways you can win are by pinfall or submission. If Ric shall lose this match, he must retire."

Those words rang through out every fan's ear in Orlando. This was it.

_'Woooooo!'_

Everyone instantly cheered. They got up and gave Ric a positive response. The Nature Boy came out in his signature robe and ring attire that was colored blue and white. He entered inside of the ring, waiting by Lilian for his opponent.

Shawn's music started up.

_'I think I'm cute, I know I'm sexy. I've got the looks that drives the girls wild.'_

Shawn got an equal amount of cheers just as Ric did. He came out in his normal gear with his red and white cross jacket and matching pants with the cowboy hat. Walking down, he did his prayer and then did his signature pose as the fireworks went off. Then as he entered into the ring, he did a different pose and then got up and started taking off his hat and jacket.

From the backstage inside of Hunter's locker room, Valerie, Courtney, Tommy, Hunter himself, and Paul were all watching the match go on.

_'Come on Shawn, you can do it.' _Courtney thought.

The bell rang. The match began. It started off like any other match would do. Courtney was cheering them both on, but she was more rooting for Shawn.

"This is definitely going to be intense." Valerie said.

"Oh absolutely." Courtney agreed.

Throughout the match, it was indeed becoming more intense. Punches were being thrown, bodies were flying everywhere, the group was becoming slightly concerned, but they knew that they couldn't do anything about it. They just continued to sit there and watch.

All of them were becoming more into it. In a case of suspense, Courtney grabbed onto Valerie's arm for dear life. She was hoping that the match would end soon on good terms with both wrestlers okay. But, she wasn't going to get her wish. And deep down inside of her heart, she knew that. Even though she didn't want to admit it.

Time was growing short and it came down to the last bits of the game. Shawn struck Ric down and the Nature Boy fell off his feet. They were split on each sides of the ring. Once Ric got back up, he raised his fists up, calling Shawn on. The Arizona man was about to hit the Sweet Chin Music, but he hesitated and stopped. He was ready to finally just finish it off, but his sorrowful eyes told another story. Surprisingly and ironically, the Heartbreak Kid's own heart... was broken. He wanted to end it, but he realized that at the same time, he didn't. Shawn knew that once he made the superkick, that everything would be over. It'd be all over. No more travelling together, no more wrestling together. It would be done.

"C'mon!" Ric called him on again.

Courtney put her hand over her mouth, attempting to muffle her gasp. Seeing the pain in Shawn's eyes caused her heart to hurt.

That's when Shawn mouthed a small message to Ric. _"I'm sorry, I love you."_

And he charged to Ric. The hit was made.

Then Shawn dropped down and covered his long time friend for the pin.

"One, two, three!"

The bell rang and Shawn freaked out. He held onto Ric's head, cradelling it in his arm. He didn't want it to be over just yet. Shawn wanted to take it all back now. But he knew it was too late. You couldn't turn back.

Courtney was silent. In fact, the whole room was silent. Tears started whelling up in her eyes as she continued to watch.

Shawn sat at the end of the ring, looking down at his feet. He felt ashamed of himself. The Orlando fans were quiet, just trying to find out what was going to happen next. Although there wasn't any booing, he felt like he just let the whole world down by what he did.

He walked away from the scene. He couldn't face Ric now.

By this time, there were tears streaming down Courtney's face. Valerie saw her and gave her a hug, trying to comfort her in anyway possible. But as Courtney held her back, she knew she had to face Shawn.

"Excuse me." she pardoned herself from the group. She exited out and started heading for the curtains. Turning around the corner, that's where she saw him, just arriving back. She formed a small, sad smile on her face, even though she was crying. Courtney opened up her arms to Shawn, walking forward into a hug. She buried her face into his chest, and just stood there, letting the silence do the talking.


	16. You Did Good

**Chapter Sixteen: You Did Good**

The next morning, WWE had remained in Orlando. They wanted to do a taping of RAW at the same place. The company had huge plans for this taping, especially the ones involving Ric.

Courtney woke up in a Holiday Inn bed, in the arms of Shawn as he slept next to her. She smiled at the sleeping sight of him. He looked better than he did last night. He didn't look so worried. Even though both of them were upset.

She ran her hand lovingly and gently across his scruffy face.

"You're still my hero." she whispered to him. "I love you, Shawn."

* * *

"You're gonna have to confront them some time." Courtney said to Shawn as they were in his locker room. She was referring to the fans.

"That doesn't mean I want to." Shawn responded.

She turned around. "Shawn, the fans are _not _mad at you. The people on the roster are _not _mad at you. _I _am _not _mad at you. Hell, not even _Ric _is mad at you. You'll be fine. You did the right thing. Just go out there and explain to the fans your feelings."

"Then if no one is mad at me, why do I feel so shitty, huh?" he questioned her.

"Because you didn't want to do it." Courtney answered him. "And that's understandable. But that guilt inside of you will pass. You just have to trust yourself to let it go. (She put her arms on his shoulders, crossing them behind his neck. She nodded) You did good. Okay?"

Shawn smiled some. "Okay."

There was a knock on the door. The two of them looked over to it and Courtney answered it. Opening it up, there stood Valerie, Becky and Dominique.

Courtney smiled. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey, you busy or somethin'?" Valerie asked her.

"Nope, we were just talking." Courtney said. "Why?"

I kinda need your help with something." she said.

"Oh." Courtney replied. She looked at Shawn. "Well, do you mind if they steal me for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me. Go ahead." Shawn allowed.

"Alright, well I'll see ya later." she said.

"Okay." he said, smooching her. "'Bye, hun."

"'Bye!" she smiled. And before she left, she said one more thing. "Oh, and smile pretty boy! No more sad faces, you understand?"

Shawn laughed. "Okay, okay. I will."


	17. Farewell Ceremony

**Chapter Seventeen: Farewell Ceremony**

"So I wanna find an outfit that looks cute and nice." Valerie asked the girls as she turned around from the mirror. "How do I look?"

"Lovin' it, pretty hot, girl." Dominique said.

"Well is it presentable or is it hot? I mean, we're going out there for Ric. I don't wanna look like a hooch." Valerie said.

"It looks _fine, _Val, relax." Becky said. "I mean, we're not going out there for the _Hall Of Fame _Ceremony. It's just a _Farewell _Ceremony. Just go in whatever you have, that's what the rest of us are doing."

"Okay, okay. Fine." she said.

"What're you guys wearing?" Courtney asked the group.

"I'm just goin' in this." Dominique said. "I figured it'd be fine."

"Same here." Becky agreed. "What about you Court'?"

"I think I'll just go like this too." she smiled and shrugged.

* * *

"...I will never ever wrestle in this ring again." Ric declared.

That was it. Ric had finally made it clear to everyone that he was finished. He had received a lot of disappointed feedback from the fans, but he continued in telling them how much they should be celebrating how long Ric has been in the business and working as hard as he did.

He continued about loving his career and how he didn't regret anything. He thanked all of the fans for the memories and how they made him into who he was.

But as he was about to finish up, Hunter came out.

"'Scuse me, girls!" Hunter squeezed through Courtney and Valerie to get to the curtains and out into the open in front of the fans.

"Get 'em, big guy!" Valerie giggled.

They continued from watching from the backstage on the television there.

With the mic in his hand, his music died down some.

"Ric." Hunter spoke. "If you think, that all of these fans here, wanna say thank you... If you think, all of the millions of fans watching on TV wanna say thank you... "

The Nature Boy started to tear up a little. He was so flattered by his friend's appearence, it was almost too much for him to bear. He didn't want to leave so much. He didn't want to leave Hunter and all of his friends behind.

Hunter put a hand on his shoulder, bringing him into a hug. "...Then, my friend, you've got another thing coming."

The fans cheered.

"Because I, just had to come out here and tell ya, from the bottom of my heart..." he continued. He loosened up a little, looking Ric straight in the eye, sincerely. "...I love you, man. And, thank you. Thank _you._"

Hunter got to his knees and started to do the Nature Boy bow down. Ric didn't want that. It didn't feel right. He insisted and asked him to get up.

"Now then, there are uh, a few other people that wanna say thank you and well... I talked to them, and ever since I did, my hand started cramping up like this..."

Hunter showed the Four Horsemen symbol. It caused Ric to grin a little bit, putting some cheer to his face. He knew what was coming up next.

Valerie laughed. "He's such a loon..."

"Yeah, you're brother's pretty much spectacular like that." Courtney chuckled.

The entrance theme started up. The Four Horsemen, and Ric's closest and old friends were here. That grin started to fade, into more tears as Hunter announced their names. The crowd went wild.

All of them walked through the curtains. Valerie just watched in amazement as they left through.

"Holy wow, this is amazing. They're actually here." she said.

"Phenomenal, isn't it?" Courtney put an arm around her.

"Yeah, man." Valerie chuckled.

They walked up into the ring, hugging Ric one at a time.

Dave Batista came through next. More and more of the Superstars started joining the girls backstage to the the curtains. John Cena, Chris Jericho, and eventually the whole roster.

Batista's music came on, and he walked through the curtains.

"The Animal, Batista and the Evolution, Ric!" Hunter continued.

Dave did the same thing as Hunter did before, bowing down to Ric as he walked down to the ring. He entered inside and gave him a big bear hug, causing Ric to smile widely. He put him down, and Ric said a few words to him, such as a small 'thank you'.

"HOLY HELL, IT'S RICKY STEAMBOAT." Courtney freaked. She hugged him in respect before letting him off to the curtains.

His music came on.

"Ricky, _'The Dragon'_ Steamboat!"

Then another past wrestler, and Hall Of Famer came out.

"The seven time, World Champion, Harley Race!"

Michelle McCool and Mickie helped him out to the ring. The people in the ring clapped in respect. Ric spread the ropes so his friend could entered in. Another hug came Ric's way.

Rock music came on, and another one came out.

"Greg, _'The Hammer' _Valentine!"

Ric grinned again. He was so happy to see all of his friends again.

"Another Horseman, Dean Malenko!"

Courtney looked up at the television. She nudged Valerie. "Look how happy Ric is. Man, I love seeing him like this. When he cries, it's just so hard to take it in. Wow... I hate to see him leave, you know?"

The Levesque nodded. "Yeah."

"My turn!" a familiar voice chirpped.

The girls looked back. Jerico came through.

"Hey Chris, wait!" Valerie called to him.

He turned around. "Yeah, what is it? Make it quick."

"Give Ric a big hug from me, okay?" she asked.

"I will." he said.

_'Break the walls down!'_

"Y2J - Chris Jericho!"

Chris gave him his hug. And then after everyone was called out, Ric's family came out. He hugged them and gave them each kisses.

But even when everyone thought it was over, someone else ... came out.

"Hey, is everyone done yet?" a voice came from the back of Courtney's head, whispering in her ear.

She turned around. She smiled. "Nope. Cena's just wrapping it up. It's your turn."

_'I think I'm cute, I know I'm sexy. I got the looks to drive the girls wild.'_

Ric's own opponent from Wrestlemania appeared. Shawn came down the runway, heading toward the ring. But as he did, he felt a buzz on his leg. It kept going and going. It was his phone. He just ignored it and acted like nothing was wrong. He didn't break out of character for a second.

The audience cheered for Shawn's arrival.

And then ... the connection was made. Shawn and Ric hugged each other. The tension of the whole match was over. It was finally gone.

"I love you, Ric." Shawn told him. "I don't know how else to tell you."

"It's okay." Ric replied. "I love you, too."

They broke apart and Hunter spoke again. Clapps are

"First can I say, those watches are sweet lookin'." he said, referring to Shawn and Ric's jewelry on their wrists. "They matching? Yeah those are cool."

Hunter smirked, chuckling at his joke.

Valerie put a hand to her forehead and shook it, laughing. "Oh my gosh... "

Courtney smiled widely. "Dude, you gotta love him. He just knows how to make everything seem brighter."

"Yeah, he does. I'll give him that." Valerie agreed.

"Anyway, there's just so many people that wanna say thank you. In fact, you know what? If there's anyone left back there that wants to say thank you to Ric Flair, come out!" Hunter said.

"That's our cue!" Courtney said, excitedly.

Every Superstar, every Diva, General Manager, and even every referee came out, clapping in respect to Ric. "Thank you, Ric! Thank you, Ric! Thank you, Ric!"

They all chanted that. Everyone did. Not one person was cheering to Ric Flair. There was an endless supply of love, care, devotion, and support to him. Every last person chanted thank you's to the greatest wrestler ever.


	18. One Missed Call

**Chapter Eighteen: One Missed Call**

Shawn stepped backstage with a feeling of a relief. Everyone else had come back, while he had stayed in the ring a little longer after everyone was leaving. He had needed a little more time with Ric. But as he exited, and entered back through the curtains, he smiled to himself. A heavy, weight was lifted off of his shoulders, knowing that he made closure with Ric. He smiled. He knew it was going to be okay. The guilty pain of the Wrestlemania match was finally over.

He reached into his pocket and pulled it out his cell phone. He felt it vibrating earlier, so he answered it now.

He looked at the screen.

**_One Missed Call_**

**_Today at 10:58 pm _**

**_From: _**

**_Rebecca_**

Rebecca? Why did she call him? Shawn hadn't spoken to her in months. What would take make her call now?

He walked over to a quiet area and dialed her number. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Then he finally finally got it to pick up.

_"Hello?"_

"Rebecca?" Shawn replied. "Did you call me earlier?"

_"Yeah, I was just out with the kids, driving home and I was wondering if you'd like to come and visit them sometime you're off the road? Just for a day or however long you have off."_ she explained.

Shawn did miss his kids. He hadn't seem them for the longest time and being so busy, he didn't tihnk about them for a while. Visiting them would definitely do him some good.

"Yeah." Shawn said. "I think I can do that. I'll call you when I'm leaving."

_"Alright. Oh, and Shawn?"_

"Yeah?"

_"Just because we're divorced doesn't mean you don't have to call. We can still talk, you know."_ she told him. _"I don't hate you."_

And that's where the phone call ended. He walked back out to the curtains and saw Hunter and Courtney.

"Hey, guys." Shawn called to them.

The female turned around and smiled, greetingly. "Hey you, where were you?"

"I had a phone call to make." he told them.

"Who was it?" Hunter asked.

"Rebecca." Shawn answered, uncomfortably. "Ah, she wanted to know if I wanted to go visit the kids. So, I'll be goin' away for a bit."

"For how long?" Courtney asked. This was just as much as a surprise to her, too.

"Not too long." Shawn told her. "Probably for like, a day or two."

"Oh, okay then."

The Arizona man put a hand on her shoulder, supportingly. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's only for a couple of days."

"No, no. It's okay, take as long as you need. It's not a problem." Courtney said, positively. "Are you leaving tonight?"

"Oh, no, not 'till probably a couple days." Shawn said.

"Okay." Courtney smiled.

Hunter put an arm around her. "Anmd in the mean time, you can chill with me while he's gone."

Courtney looked up at him, then back at Shawn and said jokingly, "You're seriously leaving me with _this?_"

They all laughed.

"I know it'll be tough, but I'll make it up to you I swear." Shawn laughed. He looked at Hunter in a warning-esque, kidding manner. "Just don't touch her. Haha."

"I won't, I promise." Hunter cheesed a smile to his friend.


	19. Hanging With The Guys

**Chapter Nineteen: Hanging With The Guys**

As Shawn flew off to see Rebecca and his kids in San Antonio, Courtney decided to spend her own day off, by visiting Tommy over at a ECW show.

Travelling up to Greenbay took some time, but she finally arrived to the arena. Courtney figured that Tommy would be in his locker room before it'd started, so she decided to look there first.

A couple knocks hit the metal door. She waited for an answer. The knob rattled a little bit a minute later before opening. Tommy peeked out and saw her standing there.

"Hey, hey, hey, big bro!" she smiled, widely.

"Courtney, hey?" Tommy said, slightly confused. He didn't really expect her to come. "What're you doing here?"

"What?" Courtney said. "I can't visit my own brother? Well, thanks, I see how much you love me. Haha. Just kidding. Shawn went to go visit his kids, so I thought I'd come down here today. What're you doing, getting ready?"

"Yeah, Colin and I have a segment to do with Estrada," Tommy began to explain. "and then were going to be wrestling in the ring. You staying for the entire night?"

"Well, not the entire night. I gotta head back tomorrow." she told him.

"Oh, alright. Well come on, let's go get some coffee." he said.

She smiled. "Sounds good."

"So Shawn went off to see his kids?" Tommy said as they sat in the catering area. "That's cool."

"Yeah, first time we've been apart being a couple, in all." Courtney said.

"Oh yeah, Tommy told me about how you were dating Shawn." Colin said. He was with them too. "How's that working out for you?"

"Actually, pretty well." Courtney replied, positively. "I feel like our relationship is getting stronger."

"That's good. Is he and Rebecca on speaking terms?" Colin asked.

"Yeah, I was told so. Supposably, since he's visiting her and the kids." she said. Deep down inside, just a little bit, Courtney felt somewhat uncomfortable with Colin's questions that involved Shawn and his ex-wife. She wasn't jealous, but she just didn't want to hear about it. She wasn't mad with Colin either for asking, but she just wished the topic didn't come up from anyone. Courtney decided to just ignore her worried feelings and attempted to burn them out of her mind.

Being her sister, Tommy knew about it some how. He smiled in a comforting way toward her, rubbing her shoulder. "Hey, well, forget about Shawn for five minutes, okay? We're gonna have a fun time tonight."

"Okay." she giggled, some.

**"Go on." Tommy instructed Colin as they walked inside of Estrada's office.**

**Colin looked nervous, but he didn't waste a minute of asking the question on his mind. "Mr. Estrada?"**

**The Cuban General Manager looked up from his papers to the young Superstar, annoyed. "What Colin, what is it, now?"**

**"Uh, I was just wondering, if we could talk about my ECW contract?" Colin asked.**

**"Oh for Pete's sake kid, not that again." Estrada sighed, in frustration. "Okay, okay, fine; you'll get your contract match. And your opponent will be ... you, Tommy Dreamer. Hah, hah."**

**"What? Come on." Tommy said. How could Estrada put him up to this?**

**"And let me tell you something, if you go easy on him, you're fired. You understand?" he warned him. He grinned, evilly. "Have a good night, boys."**

**Tommy walked in front of his pupil, and now his in-ring opponent. He didn't want to have to face him, but he had no other choice. And even though he loved the kid like he was his own son, Tommy loved ECW more. And he was going to show it in the ring.**

"And cut, thanks guys." said the camera man as he shut off the focus.

Courtney was in the background. She walked over to Tommy as the crew walked out of the room.

"Nice, NICE!" she said, excitedly. "That was awesome guys. But hey, Colin. When are you actually getting your on-screen contract?"

Colin already had signed a ECW contract with Vince months ago when he first started. But they were stretching it on camera to make it more interesting in the storyline.

"Ah, I actually gotta fight Estrada for it in a couple weeks." Colin replied.

"Really?" Courtney said, interested. She chuckled. "Well, that's gonna be an interesting one."

"Yeah, you're tellin' me." Colin laughed.

* * *

Later that night, right after the show, Courtney, Tommy and Colin all entered inside Tommy's rental car and together headed out into town.

"So, where are we going tonight?" Courtney asked the two men.

"Hm, I dunno." Tommy said. "Where do you wanna go?"

"How about the clubs?" I suggested, with a big smile.

"How 'bout not." he chuckled.

"Aw, come on Tommy, don't be such a dud." I said. "We've been working forever. You don't think we deserve a bit of a break?"

"But you know me, I'm not much of a 'clubber'."

"Are you serious?" Colin asked from the back seat. "You don't ever go to clubs?"

"Eh, well, every once in a while. But not like, religiously." Tommy explained.

"Okay, how about this, why don't we go to a club for like, say, only _two _hours." Courtney began. "And then afterwards, we can go wherever you want for the rest of the night."

"Even if it's a tittie bar?" Tommy said. He laughed. "I'm joking."

"Yeah, may be not that far. But hey, wherever." Courtney laughed too.

Colin raised his hand, jokingly. "I wanna go to a tittie bar!"

"Uh, no thanks, haha." Courtney refused, playing along.


	20. Selfish?

****

Chapter Twenty: Selfish?

Afterwards, the three went back to the arena and Courtney hopped into her car. She waved to Tommy and Colin as they drove off.

"See ya, guys!" she called to them.

"See ya, call me later, will ya?" Tommy asked.

"No prob, I will!" she replied, going into her car and riding off.

* * *

"Do you have any fives?"

"Go fish."

"Do you have any threes?"

"Go fish."

"Dude, are you lying to me?" Courtney arched an eyebrow.

"No." Hunter grinned.

She flipped his cards over and spotted three 5's. She scoffed and grabbed them. "You're such a jerk, Hunter."

"You love it." he laughed, cockily.

Courtney laughed back, sarcastically. "Oh, ah-hah, hah, hah. You wish."

The two of them were in the catering area, with Valerie and Stephanie.

"This is getting pretty intense, don't you think so, Steph?" Valerie laughed.

"Oh yeah, let me tell you..." Stephanie joked with her.

Down the hall, outside of the room, Shawn came walking up to the door, and stepped inside of the catering area. He spotted Courtney from a far distance. He smiled as an idea popped into his head.

Shawn was quiet while he snuck over and jump-started her by the shoulders. "HELLO!"

Startled, Courtney almost jumped out of her skin. She squeaked a little at the shock of Shawn scaring her. The others laughed at the prank. She turned around, stood up, and saw her boyfriend behind her.

She smacked him, playfully in the chest, laughing. "You jerk! You scared the shit outta me."

"Yeah, I know. Funny, wasn't it?" Shawn said, jokingly.

"I'll get you back later for that." she said. She took her right pointer finger and middle finger and pointed them to her eyes. "I'm watchin' you. Haha. Come on, sit with us."

"What're you guys doing here at a SmackDown show?" Shawn asked. He was scheduled to talk to the audience about the Ric Flair match at Wrestlemania.

"Well, Stephanie and I have to talk with someone here." Hunter explained. "Valerie, I have no clue. And Courtney, of course, you know why."'

The Laughlin smiled widely up at Shawn.

Shawn chuckled. "Ah, I see. Here to support me tonight?"

"Well of course, what else would I be here for?" she giggled.

* * *

"You okay?" Courtney asked Shawn, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he gave a small smile. "Just thinking."

"Well, you do that too much, you know?" she giggled.

"Yeah, I realize that." Shawn smiled, sheepishly.

"Hey, what do you say to getting dinner tonight after this whole thing?" Courtney suggested. "Let's just get away for one night."

"I'd like that." he said. "I gotta go now."

He smooched her on the cheek, before heading out of the curtain.

As Shawn began telling the audience about his match with Ric Flair, Courtney watched from the back. That was when Batista came walking out. He looked disgusted. Especially when he looked at the screen that was showing what was happening out in the ring. He shook his head at it. It was pathetic. Courtney saw him, and looked at him confused. What was his problem?

He decided to do something about it. Dave went over to the sound control, and told the man to start playing his music. That was when he walked out of the curtain and down the ramp. Once he got into the ring, the music stopped.

Batista and Shawn began arguing, but he cut Shawn off when he tried talking. He started insulting him, telling him he was being selfish when he went in the ring with Ric. And as soon as he left, he felt like he did his part. He felt confident.

Backstage, Courtney was fuming pissed. That fuck. How dare he say shit like that to Shawn! He wasn't being selfish at all. Who the hell was _he _to speak on being wrong?

The Animal entered backstage once more, leaving Shawn in the ring. Courtney, without thinking, immediatly approached him.

She pushed him, slightly in the shoulder. "Selfish? _Selfish? _You call that fuckin' selfish? Dude, what's your problem? Ric _asked _him to be in the match with him. He asked Shawn to give him his all, you imbicile!"

"Well, you're boyfriend should have known better." Dave said. "And who the fuck do you think you are to tell me off? Step back, little girl."

Courtney rushed in front of him, getting in his face. "Excuse me? Don't tell me to step back. You should have butted in, in the first place, you piece of shit."

"At least I don't step all over people to get what I want." Batista said. "You should be calling _Shawn _the piece of shit, not me. I'm the one that's right."

And out of anger, her hand came flying at him, connecting harshly with his face. She walked away, enranged at Batista, while the man held his face where it was hot.


	21. In Trouble

**Chapter Twenty-One: In Trouble**

**A/N: Sorry for any spelling mistakes. I'm typing on a crappy keyboard.**

**Review.**

* * *

Courtney didn't regret one bit what she did to Batista. What he said about Shawn was uncalled for, and going way over the top. Courtney never had a problem with him before. Though, now, she wasn't too happy with him at all.

She huffed in anger, furiously storming out into the parking lot. "Piece of shit..."

As soon as she got in there, she closed the door, allowing herself to cool down inside. Meanwhile, Shawn searched for her everywhere backstage. He came backstage later than the two.

He wondered where she could venture off to. She wasn't in the catering area. Everyone left that. Hunter was helping Stephanie with some business with a Superstar.

Valerie soon bumped into Shawn. She was doing the same thing. "Oh, hey, do you know where Courtney is?"

"No, I'm trying to look for her, too." Shawn said. "Do you have any idea where she could have gone to?"

"No clue, let's check outside." Valerie said.

* * *

Dave wasn't happy about being smacked in the face. He was angered by Courtney and fled to Vince's office. He had already dealt with other Superstars giving him heat. He didn't need it from another one. Especially an amature Diva, like Courtney. He wasn't going to let it fly, and made sure she had her punishment give her hell.

Courtney paced back and forth in the parking lot, near by the building. She was trying to make herself calm down. She was so uncontrollably flustered, that she didn't know what to do. So, she spent some time by herself, attempting to collect all of her thoughts again.

The back door to the arena opened up again. Courtney stopped and looked who was coming out of it. Lo and behold, it was Shawn and Valerie.

"Hey, what're you doing out here?" Valerie spoke up first.

"Oh." Courtney said. "Uh, nothing. Just, nothing."

"Nothing? Really? Doesn't look like it." she said, as the two of them walked up to her.

Shawn's emotion turned to concern as he saw the look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Just kinda pissed." Courtney said. "I kind of ...did something bad."

Now his emotion turned into worried. "Oh, what is it?"

"I, uh, had a run-in with Dave and ended up slapping him in the face for what he said to you about your match with Ric." Courtney said, in a guilty emotion.

"Holy shit, dude." Valerie said.

"Courtney, no, why did you do that?" Shawn said, panicking. "Vince probably already knows by now, knowing Dave. Shit... You know what, I'll handle this. I can't believe you did that."

"Shawn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was just angry." Courtney said.

And speaking of the Chairman, he showed up, opening the door, and meeting presence with the three others.

"Miss Laughlin?"

Courtney saw him. Shit, she was in huge trouble now. "Sir?"

"Can you see me in my office, please?"

* * *

Courtney followed her boss into his office. Sitting at one of the free chairs, was Dave. Oh, great. She knew what was coming up next.

"Please, have a seat." said Vince.

"Okay..." Courtney said, under her breath.

"I got a report, from Dave here, that you assaulted him earlier tonight?" he said.

Assaulted was such a big, and over-the-top word. She only slapped him.

"Sir, Dave insulted me, we got in a arguement, and I slapped him out of anger." she explained. "He provoked me, but I do apologize for my actions. I usually don't fly off the handle, like that."

"Well, it isn't the _first _time where Dave has insulted oe of our Divas." Vince said, looking at The Animal. "But there is no excuse for that kind of actions. I'm giving you a warning now, don't do that again. But, Miss Laughlin, you will get the chance to be in the segment on RAW next week. Dave, you have the same warning as her."

"Right, sir." he nodded.


	22. He Can's Hurt You

**Chapter Twenty-Two: He Can't Hurt You**

Coming out of Vince's office, Courtney felt great that she got his premission to be in the RAW Batista/Shawn segment. Of course, she wasn't going to be the one throwing Dave around, but she could yell at him and stick up for Shawn. It would be her own revenge on him for what he said to Shawn.

Now usually Courtney wasn't a very angry person. As everyone knew, she was known for her fun-loving, bubbly attitude. But Dave went too far and pushed Courtney over the limit. Now it was her turn to get back at him. And karma was definitely going to be hell.

* * *

A week ahead, the next RAW came around. It was time for the show to began. And Shawn was scheduled to start it off. Courtney had told him about the role she had with the two. He didn't like it one bit, but he really couldn't do anything about it. But, just one show up, was going to involve her more in the storyline. So on one hand, it was going to be great. But the fact that Courtney would be in the middle of their fight, he didn't like at all. Courtney _was _a big girl, but Shawn wanted to protect her. After all, she was his girl.

_'I think I'm cute, I know I'm sexy. I got the moves, to drive the girls wild.'_

The fans immediatly got to their fight, giving Shawn his regular positive response. He wasn't in his regular good mood as he usually would be coming down to the ring, and he didn't do any of his poses or anything. He just entered inside the ring, planning on confronting Dave.

He grabbed a mic from Lilian by the ring. The music died down. "Dave? I know you're here, big guy. I wanna talk about what happened Friday night. So, if you could come out, it would be great."

Silence.

"Come on, Dave. We need to talk. Now."

Suddenly, his music came on and all of his thousands of fans started cheering. Dave started walking through the curtains. He strolled down the runway, heading toward the ring.

The two faced each other again. The left over bits of tension from Friday was expanding larger, now. They started out, trying to peacefully talk. But Batista put a fire under his ass, yelling the things about what he said, the last confrontation.

"You wanna go, big guy? Just do somethin', I'm beggin' ya." Shawn said, becoming intense.

The shouting started up again. Courtney's music came on. She came out with a microphone in her hand. The sound immediatly quieted down. She stoop on top of the ramp. She didn't go any farther than that.

"Hey, hey!" she shouted. "Enough, Dave! I'm sick of hearing it from you! All this about Ric, why? Why do you bother keep putting Shawn down? It was Ric's choice to pick him. Ric asked for Shawn's best, and that's what he gave him! So back off!"

"Who the hell are you to get involved with this?" Dave shouted into his mic.

"You're right." she admitted. "I shouldn't be involved, but neither should you. I'm getting sick and tired of you, day-after-day harping on him. I'm just saying, make the right choice. You do what you think is right."

That's when she dropped the mic to the metal ground and walked back into the backstage.

"What was that all about?" King asked.

"I have no idea." JR replied. "Does Courtney know something that we don't?"

* * *

Shawn eventually entered backstage again. And so did Batista. He followed him in, giving him a staredown. The Heartbreak Kid glare at him, with fire burning inside of him. If only he could swing once, he'd be good. But Courtney restrained him.

"No, no. Shawn, don't." Courtney said. She put a hand on his face. "Don't worry baby, he can't hurt you. He won't."


	23. Promise Me

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Promise Me**

After the show, the rode to the closest hotel they could find.

"Courtney?" Shawn called.

The Laughlin turned around from the mirror to look at him. "Yeah?"

"I want to talk to you about something." he said, getting up. He walked over to her, putting his arms around her waist. He looked down into her eyes. He seemed pretty concerned about whatever was going inside his mind.

"What is it, hun?" she asked him.

"I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Promise me, you'll stay away from Dave." Shawn asked. "I need to handle him on my own, and I don't want you to get hurt by getting in the middle of it."

Courtney was a little surprised that he would ask it, but she also understood why. "But, I have to be with you in storyline."

"Yeah, I know. But I mean, outside work." he elaborated. "Just till this whole thing is over, okay?"

"Sure, no problem." Courtney nodded. She'd respect his wishes. After all, she did enough already. But then, she smiled. She had an idea. "Hey, you know what we should do?"

"What's that?"

"Let's sneak out to the hot tub." she smirked.

"No, we can't." Shawn said.

"Why not?" Courtney asked. "We've been on the road, working hard, stressing over stupid shit. Let's just have a little fun. Come on, babe. Only for tonight."

The Arizona man rolled his eyes, laughing some. This was crazy. But hey, she was right. "Okay, okay. Come on, you goof."


	24. Alone Time

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Alone Time**

Courtney giggled as she and Shawn ran down outside of the hotel. "C'mon Shawn!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." Shawn laughed.

They stepped into one of the open tubs. No one was out with them. They were completely alone.

Courtney tried hushing Shawn from making any noise. They didn't want to get caught. Technically, pool hours were over, but they snuck out anyways.

She dipped her right foot into it. Perfect temperature. She started entering more into the water. And so did Shawn. The two of them sat down on the seat. the both of them got comfortable as they let their bodies adjust to the water completely.

Shawn shifted his arm around her. Courtney put her head on his shoulder and a hand on his chest.

"Mm, want me to turn on the bubbles?" Courtney offered.

"Nah, don't worry about it." he declined. "It's fine the way it is."

"Okay." she said, as she looked up to him, smiling.

"Okay." he repeated, after her, smooching her on the lips. She smooched back. "Hey, baby?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever tell you, I love you?" he asked her. They kept their pattern of small kisses.

"No, I don't recall." she played along.

"Well, I do a lot." he said, deepening the kiss. His hand holding on to the side of her neck. Courtney moved her hand onto his shoulder. Both of their tounges massaging one another's. Then afterwards, he moved his lips over to her neck, sending shivers down Courtney's body. Underwater, his other hand placed onto her side.

"Wait, Shawn."

He looked at her, haulting.

"Come on." she said. "Let's go back in the room."


	25. Brighter Days

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Brighter Days**

**A/N: Sorry for the suckish chapter... there will be better ones soon! I promise!**

* * *

"I like the banana, must be the banana. Concentrate on the banana." and then, Shawn took a huge chomp out of it. "Whoop, banana gone."

"Yeah, you like eating that banana, don't you?" Courtney teased him.

Shaw offered her some. "Yeah, yeah. Admit it, you want my banana."

Courtney made a muffled snickered as she chewed up the bite.

It was a few weeks later, and the couple were on their way, flying to another show. For the longest time, Dave didn't bother, aggrivate or harass either Shawn or Courtney. Or even any of their friends.

The Laughlin looked out the window. "Oh gosh, look how beautiful it is outside..."

Shawn leaned over the arm rest and peeked out of it, too. It was pretty early in the morning, so the sunrise was still around.

"Yeah, it is." Shawn agreed, sitting back after taking a good look.

"So darling, what do you say in having fun tonight after the show?" Courtney suggested, giving his hand a little loving squeeze.

"Hmm, sounds good." Shawn replied. "Where though?"

"Wherever, I don't care." she shrugged. "Let's have a little get together tonight at the suite."

"Alright, let's do it." he nodded. Shawn then snickered a little. "...Do you want anymore of my banana?"

"Oh my gosh, Shawn, you're such a nerd..." Courtney put a hand over her forehead and looked down. She shook her head and giggled silently.

* * *

"I win." Hunter declared, putting up two hands and a mile-long smile across his face. Another game of Goldfish won again.

"Oh fuck you, Hunter you totally cheated!" Courtney said, jokingly.

"How did I cheat?" Hunter questioned her, grinning. "It's _Goldfish_, come on girl."

"Don't play stupid. You gipped me last time, and you even showed me." Courtney proved her point.

"Oh, that? That was totally in the past..." he waved it off. "Pff!"

"You're such a loser."

"A loser with a kid on the way."

"Yep, and I feel sorry for her."

"Oh, thanks." he chuckled.

Courtney giggled a little bit. "Hunter, I'm totally kidding. I'm actually happy for you and Stephanie."

"I know, I know. But thanks." he replied.

She simply smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He then migrated over to Valerie to talk to, while Courtney went over to Tommy who as on her and Shawn's bed, drinking a wine cooler and talking to Colin.

"Hey Tom-Tom, hey Colin. Havin' fun?" Courtney plopped down on the bed.

"Absolutely." he said. "How've you and Shawn been?"

"Pretty good, actually." she replied. "Getting closer and closer every day."

"Well, that's good." Colin said. "Congrats, Courtney."

"Thanks, Colin." she smiled.

"Did you guys have sex yet?" Tommy came out and said it. He laughed.

"Ohhh, haha, man!" Colin laughed a long.

Courtney cracked up, blushing a little at her older brother's comment. "Tommy you're such a pervert!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." he patted her on the back, chuckling.

"Heeeeey..." Paul said, out loud. The two siblings and Colin looked up at him along with a few others in the crowds. He was by the radio, turning it up. "Good song!"

_"And we were tryin' different things._

_And we were smokin' funny things_

_Making love out on the beach to our favorite song._

_Sippin' whisky out the bottle._

_Not thinkin' 'bout tomorrow._

_Singing 'Sweet Home Alabama' all summer long!"_

Courtney got up and started dancing with Shawn, singing with the Kid. _"'Sweet Home Alabama' all summer long!"_

She was like on a high. A high of just pure fun, excitement and bliss. She didn't think anything could ruin this.


End file.
